Remember the Past
by LeafxGreenx3
Summary: Six years had gone by. Six years since he had the surgery, and six years since she left him. She planned they would never meet again, but what happens when fate decides to lend a hand and he's in her life again? More importantly, will he remember her at all? Sequel to Repairing the Past. -AU- ORS, CS, IS, PS.
1. How Have You Been?

**Guys, guess what? It's the sequel. For Repairing the Past. Before I start school too! And I'm so excited for this because I think this is the most successful story I've ever written yet and I want to continue making you all happy so I'm hoping this story will come out as good as the prequel. **

**Thank you so much for the reviews for Repairing the Past and to answer LoveLoverGrl, I will try to focus on May and Drew but you have to remember, the story is about Leaf and Gary from the beginning and I don't plan on changing that. You will understand why it's mainly Oldrival though and fear not, this story will still contain the usual shippings! And as for PrincessofDestiny14, I'm sorry that last chapter of Repairing the Past had a crappy ending but that's how I wanted it to end so I'm sorry it wasn't what you anticipated for.**

**Yes, I know the title is totally cliché but it went well with the plot so I'm just going to stick with this title, okay? If you have any suggestions, then feel free to leave it. Now, story time!**

**Disclaimer: Damn it, I never owned Pokémon in Repairing the Past, stop rubbing it in, creators!**

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><p><strong><span>Remember The Past<span>**

_**Chapter One: How Have You Been? **_

**Leaf's POV**

Six years already, huh? Since _that incident_. I admit, I was stupid for ever agreeing to the whole thing but it was all for him. It was best for him to go through with it anyway if it meant he could stay alive.

"Mommy!" I was snapped from my train of thoughts when I heard my little girl's voice and turned around. She was running with full speed as I bent down and opened my arms for her to run into.

"Were you good today? You didn't cause trouble for Uncle Danny or his mom, did you?" I inquired in a child-like voice.

It wasn't like me to act like a child, but ever since she came along, I had to in order to keep a smile on her face and her smile made me smile. She had _his _smile.

Danny chuckled. "Don't worry, Leaf. She didn't cause trouble at all. If anything, it's this little guy who didn't want to take his nap." He eyed the boy who stood near his legs while he pouted and crossed his arms.

We both laughed. "Yeah, he's got May's stubbornness, I see," I stated truthfully.

It was true. Elliott had mostly of May's personality but his looks were no doubt from his father. He inherited May's brown locks, yes, but his eyes were definitely Drew's emerald irises.

"Aunt Leaf," he began, catching my attention. "Is my mom home yet?"

I took a quick glance at my watch. "She should be coming back right now. Why don't you come home with me and Mandy and we'll wait for her there?" I offered. It wasn't anything new. Elliott stayed over often whenever he waited for May to get off work. "You can play with Mandy while I cook."

He nodded and immediately left Danny's side for my hand. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Uncle Danny."

He chuckled and ruffled both their hair. "Alright, I'll see you two tomorrow then."

"Thanks again for watching Mandy. The sandwich shop has been so busy lately."

He offered me a smile. "It's no problem, Leaf. Besides, I like spending time with these two rascals anyway."

"We're not rascals!" they yelled in unison. We both laughed and he bid goodbye before heading back to his own house.

I looked over at the river and sighed. It reminded me so much of him. The calmness of the river reflected so much on his character. No, snap out of it Leaf, just forget about him. I looked over at the two kids again and placed my five year old daughter down. "Come on, let's go home now."

It wasn't a long walk home. Well at least for us residents who had been living in Village Bridge for a while now. We had grown accustomed to this that the bridge was a piece of cake to walk through. Besides, it filled in for great exercise and the place was calm and safe enough that people take night walks out too if whenever it was too hot.

I allowed Mandy and Elliott to walk ahead while I walked a little behind. They were energetic for five year olds, but I guess they inherited the personalities. _Mandy. _She was someone unexpected to be honest. She just came along and now, she's my whole world. Her carefree smiles and her light gentle giggles all reminded me of, well, me when I was her age. Her hair was a beautiful shade of brown, probably a coffee color, and it only reached her mid-back. She just would not let me cut an inch of her hair, stating that she would look ugly if she had short hair. Seems like she obtained a bit of vanity from him.

"Mommy," she called.

I diverted my attention to the source of her voice and no doubt she was outside the while painted gate with Elliott, waiting for the gate to be opened. I smiled at the two pair and jogged my way to them to open it up with the key. They ran into the yard and started playing with the toys left outside while I locked the gate. "Don't go outside or talk to strangers, okay?" I warned. "Come in when it get's dark."

They both nodded and I headed inside the house to start cooking. I decided to let my hair grow out so now it reached waist, which got in my way often when I had to cook so I had to tie it up in a messy bun, allowing some shorter strands in the front to frame my face. I always did like this hairstyle for a reason.

It wasn't long after till I got a phone call from May. I pressed the accept button and set on speaker while I grabbed some ingredients for dinner. "Hey, May, what's up?"

"Elliott is with you right?" she asked. I replied with a simple yes as she sighed. "Okay, tell him I'm almost home then."

"Sure thing, May. Hey, I'm making Chicken Alfredo tonight. Did you want to stay and have some?" I looked outside at the two kids. "Elliott and Mandy seem to be having fun," I added.

"Yeah, sure I would love to. Oh, and would it be alright if Misty and Dawn came too. They really wanted to see the two so they stopped by Lacunosa today at the flower shop."

"Of course. It's been a while since I've last seen them anyway. I'll make extra then." We both bid our goodbyes before hanging up and I got right to work.

Heartbeat stopped with music six years ago right after May and I moved here. Fans of us were disappointed but they were still happy to see us whenever we were nominated for music awards and well, we usually won most of them. I guess, now we're just taking a break from the music industry and just living the lives of normal people. We still loved our music though. I still played the piano, the keyboard playing really helped through those years, and the acoustic guitar while May stuck with guitar along with Dawn who played a bit of piano and Misty continued the drums, though she did learn a bit of guitar from Dawn. Yup, so even though we quit the music business, we still continued the instruments we love. Even Mandy and Elliott were urging us to teach them.

I let a sigh out. Being famous was fun, I would admit that but I missed being normal and I was able to act more of myself whereas being famous I had to watch what I did to avoid attention. Another sigh. I shouldn't be thinking about this now! I shook my head and continued with the recipe. About half an hour later, a car engine could be heard dying down while the two kids who were now inside rushed to the door.

"If you two stand too close to the door, it'll hit you when it opens," I joked playfully after placing the Alfredo in the oven.

Mandy and Elliott moved out of the way to let me reach the door to open it up for the girls. When I opened the door, I was met with a certain bluenette, who latched herself onto me. "It's so great to see you again, Leaf!"

I returned the hug and smiled. "I missed you too, Dawn." We released and she handed me something.

"I believe I owe a little girl a birthday gift. Sorry I couldn't make it to her fifth birthday. Had some trouble with the clothing company."

I smiled and accepted the gift. "It's okay, Dawn. You didn't have to though, Mandy understands."

"Is that for me?" the little girl asked gleefully, stars in her eyes.

Dawn giggled and took the gift from my hand. "Yep, that's your late birthday gift. Oh, a give this to Elliott too. I ran across it and thought he might like it." She handed my daughter a blue bag and she ran back inside to the boy.

"You spoil them too much, Dawn," the red-head piped. I turned to her and she smiled. "Long time huh, Leaf?"

"You have no idea. How's Ash?"

"Good, still the same as ever." We giggled. "But, I wouldn't want him any other way," she added.

We all 'aww'-ed until May piped up. "Why don't we all go inside? It's getting a little chilly out here."

Huh, I forgot we were still outside. I opened the door wider as they all piled into the house and into the kitchen, ready to help me set up the table. Just like old times.

Even though the kitchen right now wasn't as big as our old one, it still grew onto me. Ever since May and I moved here, the villagers here were nothing more but kind to us, giving us a nice house to live in. We managed to do a bit of customizing though so it'd make us feel as if it were home. This kitchen was just fine with me, no matter how small it was. It was perfect for just me and my daughter with the occasional Elliott and May.

Dawn set the plates onto the cream white table while Misty placed the utensils next to it and May was helping with the drinks. I on the other hand, got the Alfredo out and started to let it cool down.

When it was cooled down, I got even amounts and placed it on each plate and left the leftovers over on the counter in case anyone wanted more. With our fast metabolism we were able to pretty much eat whatever we wanted, much to May's delight. Misty got the two kids in and then dinner started, with ex-pop stars, Heartbeat with two kids.

When we were finished, Misty and Dawn volunteered to help with the dishes since it was past Mandy's bedtime and she still had yet to shower and May had to bring Elliott home. She gave Misty and Dawn a hug before going out to her car and drove home, leaving just us. "Alright, I'll take my little girl to shower and sleep and you two can leave first if you want," I suggested before dragging the little brunette to give her a shower.

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><p>"Mommy, can you tell me a bedtime story?" she asked when I tucked her in.<p>

I thought for a while and nodded. "Which story do you want to hear?"

"About you and Daddy," she answered cheekily. I winced slightly but luckily she didn't catch it.

"You heard it so many times already though," I reasoned. She pouted and gave me that puppy dog look. Damn it, she was too good. "Okay, okay."

I sighed, sliding next to her on bed while her head rested on my lap. Instinctively, I started to run my fingers through her hair.

"We met when we were very little, five years old actually, like you. We didn't like each other at first, be then we became the best of friends, and when we were growing up, Mommy started to have feelings for him. But, Mommy thought he didn't like her so she would keep it as a secret. Then, one day, when we were in high school, he went out with a girl and Mommy felt very jealous to the girl. When she asked Daddy why he would go out with that girl, he asked her why she would care. Of course, she didn't want to say it, but he got it out of her and then, they started to go out," I finished.

I looked down at her only to find her already asleep and smiled. With a kiss on the forehead, I gently placed her head down to her green and white striped pillow, trying not to wake her. I fixed her sheets so she would stay warm and then headed out the door, letting her sleep peacefully.

When I got downstairs to the living room, I found Misty and Dawn on the sofa, watching some TV. "What are you two still doing here?"

Dawn flicked it off. "Paul's been reporting to us about the news on him," she said seriously.

Misty nodded in agreement. "And well, it seems like he's successful now. He followed under Professor Oak's footsteps and became a researcher. He and the guys moved down to Castelia and so they live there now," she reported.

"You mean he never met with you two yet since the surgery?" I questioned.

They shook their heads. "If we did meet him, he might interrogate us about you along with Drew about May. At least with the guys they can just simply tell him that they don't know where you two are at. Drew kept asking us about May at first, but after we kept telling him the same thing, he just stopped. I guess he just found it useless to keep asking us," Dawn explained.

"As for Gary," Misty added. "He hasn't asked us anything yet. I'm assuming he believes the story that they don't know where you're at."

I grimaced at the clock and my eyes widened. "It's already ten thirty, shouldn't you two being going now? You have work tomorrow right?"

They both groaned. "I miss those days when all we did was write songs," Dawn complained with Misty nodding in the back.

I giggled. "There will be time for that again. But seriously, you two need to go now. Mandy has school tomorrow and Chris is making me show up early for business. I think she needs more workers."

They both stood up and headed for the door. "Okay we'll leave now but we will be back on Saturday," Misty planned.

I playfully rolled my eyes. "Alright, alright. Oh, and tell Ash and Paul I said hi!" I called when they reached their cars. The both winked at me and left as I closed the door and locked it.

I went to my room and took out the picture of us. The last one we ever took together and looked at up at the starry sky. "How are you doing, Gary?"

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><p><strong>And there it is! I know it's kind of short but more will be revealed next chapter. This was more of a prologue-ish chapter anyway but at least you all know what happened to the girls. Next chapter will be focused on the guys and see how they are doing as well so I hope you'll all be prepared for that. <strong>

**Uh, since Village Bridge isn't on the anime yet, I only used the info I know from the game and because Lacunosa town looked nice and everything I decided to add a Flower Shop there. As for Dawn and Misty's careers, Dawn's a fashion designer as you all probably figured when she brought up the clothing and Misty, you'll know soon enough. ;D**

**School is starting soon for me. On August 30****th****, I'll be going back as a sophomore and see people I don't like and that'll mean I won't have much time to update. I am deeply sorry I haven't updated a lot during this summer but my tiredness can only hold on for so long before I knock out in the afternoon for a nap. Again, I am sorry but at least I managed to finish one story and start a new one! **

**So, to finish this off, please review and tell me how I did. I love to read your opinions on it and your words really do motivate me to make my chapters better and possibly longer so please, send me some kind words! Haha, okay, I'll leave with that note so REVIEW and I'll update as soon as possible, byee!**


	2. Perfectly Fine Without You

**Sorry for the long wait guys! I'm sure you all know I started school already and I really want to apologize for the long updates. It's just that I really need to focus this year and actually try because I've heard sophomore year is important. And on top of that, I have piles of homework **_**daily **_**so it makes me even more stressed so I'm sorry for that too. You can blame my Geometry and Chemistry for that because I've been staying up late for their homework. **

**Anyway, back to the story. I absolutely love all of you guys for the lovely reviews. It makes me glad that there are a lot of you like this story! I hope you'll continue reading even with the long updates. **

**Now, to nessa3456, their ages are now this: Ash and Gary are 26, Misty, Paul and Leaf are 25, Drew is 24 and May and Dawn are 23. Just a note, Gary's birthday is before Leaf's so lets just all pretend he turned 26 recently, okay? Okay, good. Oh, and this is the day after last chapter, just to let you know.**

**Now let's get started! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokemon characters in any way.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Two: Perfectly Fine without You<strong>_

**Normal POV**

"Hey Gramps, here are the information you asked for." The spiky haired male placed a manila folder down on the desk next to his grandfather who was currently doing examining a bacteria with a microscope in front of him.

An old man looked up and looked over it. "Thank you, Gary, you may leave now."

Gary nodded and removed his lab coat from his body, placing it back on the rack that stood next to the door. "Thanks, I was planning to ask if I could take an early leave today anyway."

"And what's so important that you want to leave early for?" he inquired as he rose an eyebrow.

Gary hesitated a bit but answered nonetheless. "Let's just say, you're going to have the great grandkids you always wanted soon." The professor looked taken aback but Gary simply chuckled. "Wish me luck tonight, Grandpa." And then, he was out.

Professor Oak sighed and looked out his window. _How am I going to tell him the truth now…_

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><p>Gary drove back to his house that he shared with the guys. Ever since he woke up from his surgery, they had stuck with him throughout everything and even attended college with him, each majoring in respective subjects. He himself had majored in Bio-Medical, graduated and obtained his Doctorates in research, and, now a famous researcher while Ash gradually graduated with his Master's degrees and became a teacher, thinking it would give him and Misty more time to spend together. Misty was also a teacher, for elementary because she was able to bond with kids better than anyone. Paul had graduated and became an engineer while Drew majored in music.<p>

Gary found it strange that his friends barely talked about his past relationships but would always bring up things they did in the past. Even when he asked if he had ever had someone important to him, they would change the subject. He decided to shrug away the thought as he pulled over into his driveway and got out the car. He made his way inside the house saw each guy on a sofa or couch, watching television. "I thought you guys had work today."

Paul pointed at the clock. "Look at the clock, Genius. It's seven o'clock," he stated flatly.

Gary's eyes went wide. "Already?" he yelled. "Shit, I need to hurry now or she'll be mad," he said to no one in particular, rushing upstairs.

"Why is he making tonight such a big deal anyway?" Drew asked blankly. "What's so different about today that he has to make a big deal about? He's always late anyway."

Ash shrugged while trying to correct some papers. "Who knows, but I could bet it has to do with that ring he's been keeping on top of his desk."

The other two stopped what they were doing and stared at Ash, who stared back. "Don't tell us he…" Drew started.

"It's only expected. They've been going out for, how long now? Five years now?" Paul stated.

"Pfft, took him a year just to get the guts to ask her out," Drew said smugly.

"Says the person who's without a girlfriend right now," Gary retorted while coming down the stairs, dressed nicely with a pair of black slacks, a white collared shirt and a purple tie loosely around his neck.

Drew threw Gary a dirty look. "For your information, I choose not have one. You've seen my fans right?"

He simply shrugged. "Whatever, I'm going now." He walked out of the house, leaving the three guys there alone in the living room again.

"Did you really take what he just said seriously?" Ash questioned Drew when he still had the glare at where Gary stood before.

"No," he responded angrily. "Why would I be mad about the girl who _left _me six years ago? I mean, I stood up to my father for _her._"

Ash placed a hand over his shoulder. "She probably has a reason for that. May wouldn't do something like that; she isn't that type of person."

He let out a mock laugh. "And what would that be? To go back to a hair freak?"

"You do know it's a hat, right?" Paul informed.

"Whatever, Paul," Drew snarled. He ran is fingers through his green hair and sighed. "I just don't understand why she would just leave like that, without a word."

"She's probably okay, don't worry about it," Ash consoled. "Besides, right now, we have far worst problems."

Drew raised an eyebrow at him which Paul responded with rolled eyes. "Gary and that _woman_," he spat with venom, as if her name was cursed.

"I don't get why you hate her so much, she's not that bad you know. She's one of my childhood friends and she's nice," Ash informed.

The two just stared at the raven haired male as if he had grown two heads. "Ash, she practically throws a tantrum whenever something doesn't go her way. You call that nice?" Drew questioned.

He shrugged. "I guess he just likes that type of girl," he said before realizing what was wrong. "But I do miss Leaf."

The room soon fell quiet as each of them tried to think of something to say. The only sound audible was Ash's scribbling's on the papers he was correcting and the ticking clock. "So are we going to tell him everything?" Ash finally asked.

Both Paul and Drew exchanged looks before sighing. "Something tells us it'll be too late for us to tell him after tonight," Drew stated.

"Maybe is wasn't the right choice to wait for the perfect moment to tell him the truth," Ash suggested. "I mean, look at us now. Because we were scared of how he would react about Leaf leaving, we didn't didn't say anything and look at him now! He's so different now."

At this, Paul shrugged and sighed. "That's the price we pay for trying to play it safe."

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><p>"So, why did you pick me up so early today? You're usually late," a brunette interrogated as her boyfriend took a seat in front of her, smirk plastered on his face.<p>

"Let's just say, tonight's an important night," he said breezily.

She raised an eyebrow. "Would you care to tell me?" she asked, getting ready to pout in front of him.

"No, you'll just have to wait." He smiled and reached to grab her hand that lay on the table. He gripped it firmly, almost afraid to let go and she noticed.

"You're holding my hand tightly again. What are you afraid of now?"

The smiled didn't leave his face as he locked his eyes with her. "I'm afraid that you doubt my love for you. Every time I bring up anything about marriage, you change the topic and it makes me feel like you don't believe I love you. I'm afraid that if I let go, you'll be gone from my life." She smiled and tried to respond back but he continued to speak. "Do you remember when we first met?"

"Back at the park at Pallet Town when we were five?" she guessed.

He shook his head. "No, I can't even remember it. I meant after I woke up from my surgery. You said that whenever I needed your help, just hold your hand." He gripped it tighter as he continued. "And right now, I need you to be in my life forever."

Her smiled fell as she stared deep into his eyes, completely speechless. "Gary…" she whispered.

The smile never left his face as he stood up from his seat and walked over to her side as her eyes followed his movements. He still had her hand firmly in his as he kneeled down on one knee and reached for the purple velvet box in his pockets. Everyone in the restaurant stopped what they were doing when they saw this and focused their attention on the two. The famous Gary Oak was proposing.

"Megan Tanner, will you marry me?" The box was opened and it revealed a simple gold silver band with three small diamonds on the center. Just what she liked, simple.

She gasped and was taken aback a bit as everyone in the restaurant was anticipating for her to answer, hopefully yes. She was speechless but was happy nonetheless. Since she couldn't say anything, she simply nodded and got up from her seat as she wrapped her arms around him with the audience cheering in the back. When they released each other, Gary took the ring and slid it onto her ring finger on her left hand and sealed it with a kiss.

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><p>"Aunt Leaf, do you know what happened to my daddy," the little boy inquired.<p>

Leaf looked at the little boy holding onto her left hand while her daughter was holding her right hand. It was already twelve which meant it was time for kindergarteners to leave for home, which was the usual time. Leaf would always pick the two up and take them to Danny's while she left for work. "Why are you asking?"

He looked down, a bit flushed and hesitant to answer. "Because today we were told to draw our family and when I didn't draw Daddy, the teacher asked why. I said I didn't know him…" he trailed off.

The older brunette looked sadly over the little boy and shifted her attention to her own daughter, who was looking down on the ground this whole time. She knew how much it hurt the two that they never met their fathers but May was just simply stubborn and wouldn't want to face Drew. Leaf on the other hand, couldn't tell _him_ about it.

She forced a smile on her face as she ruffled the little boy's brown hair. "Don't worry about it. Your mom will tell you if you ask her nicely, okay Elliott?"

He sighed but nodded nonetheless. "Did he not want me?" he finally asked.

Her eyes softened as she looked at the boy's face. Sadness was written all over it. "I'm sure he wanted you," Leaf reassured. "Don't worry, okay. Your mom will answer you truthfully if you ask her on the right time, alright?"

He nodded. "Okay."

The three finally arrived to Danny's house and he was outside waiting already. "Took you long enough, what happened?"

"Nothing, just talked," she lied. She bent down to Mandy's level. "Okay, Mommy has to go back to work now. I'll be back to get you at five alright?"

The little girl smiled and nodded, giving Leaf a hug around the neck. "Okay, Mommy. Mandy promises to be a good girl today."

Leaf returned the hug, holding her daughter tightly and smiled. "That's my girl."

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><p><strong>That Night<strong>

It was now nine o'clock, Mandy's bedtime. As Leaf was tucking the little girl into bed, she couldn't help but notice how spaced out her daughter seemed to be. "What's wrong?" she asked, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her tucked in daughter.

"Today, Elliott asked about his daddy because some mean bullies were picking on him for not having one. I tried to say something but they said the same thing that they did to him…" she trailed off, tears brimming in her eyes. Leaf tried to say something but her daughter beat her to it. "They said that he didn't want me," she sobbed.

Leaf started to brush the hair out of her daughter's face as the little girl continued to cry. "Don't cry, Mandy. It's not true. Daddy wanted you very much," she assured.

"Then how come he isn't with us? Why doesn't he want to see me?" she asked, sounding desperate.

The older brunette sat closer to her daughter, who was now sitting up, and leaned back on the head of it. She wrapped her arms around Mandy and pulled her closer to her. "It's hard to explain everything right now Mandy, but I assure you, Daddy wanted you very much. When you get older, Mommy will explain everything to you, alright?"

She sniffled and looked up at her mother. "Really?" Leaf nodded and Mandy brought her pinky finger up to her. "Pinky promise?"

Leaf giggled and intertwined her pinky with her daughter's. "I pinky promise you."

"Mommy, can I ask you something?" She nodded. "Do you miss Daddy?" she asked before taking a big yawn and settling down to her pillow.

Leaf, lost in thought, didn't notice the movement. For the first time in years, she didn't know how to answer her own daughter, something that became easy after the first year. Now, she couldn't answer a simple question like this one. Did she really miss Gary?

"All the time," she answered absentmindedly before noticing her sleeping daughter.

She looked down at the sleeping little girl. A small smile managed to grace her lips as she looked at her beautiful daughter. Must have obtained part of her looks from her father. Leaf giggled at the thought and kissed her daughter's forehead before heading out to her own room.

As she lay in bed that night, she kept tossing and turning until she gave up and decided to just stare out at the window at the bright full moon. "Do you miss me too, Gary?"

* * *

><p>"WHO SAID THAT TO YOU?" the brunette yelled, obviously furious at the kid who made fun of her son. That was rule number one. Never mess with May Maple's child.<p>

Elliott looked down. "Isaac and his friends," he answered meekly, looking down.

"That kid's mom is going to be getting a phone call tomorrow and learn a new lesson on teaching her kid some manners," May growled to herself. Then she looked over at her son, who was looking down on his sheet and swiped some of his hair to the side. "Now don't listen to them, Elliott. They're just jealous that you're a whole lot better looking than them, that's all."

"Then why did they say Daddy didn't want me?" he retorted.

May slightly winced from the tone of his voice. Never had he used that tone with her before, until now.

"It has nothing to do with you at all. It's just that at that time, we didn't have a choice, that's all," she comforted. "You're a big boy now, don't let a couple of words bring you down. You're a smart and charming boy that everyone loves and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, got that?"

The little boy was almost hesitant to answer but nodded and wrapped his arms around May, giving her a hug. "I love you, Mommy."

A tear almost slid down her face as the little boy reminded her so much of him but she still fought it back as she returned the hug and smiled. "I love you too," she responded. "Now come on, let's get to bed. You have school tomorrow."

May tucked the boy in, making sure he was snuggling happily and when she was sure he was asleep, she placed a teddy bear in his arms, making him snug closer to it and tiptoed out his room and headed back into her room where she dug out an old album and started to look through it. Each page made it harder to hold in her cry but she still managed anyway. It kept reminding her of his personality and everything that she loved about him.

"Elliott's just like you, Drew. Did you know that?" she asked the photo, almost as if she was talking to him. Then closed the book and put it away looking at the picture frame on the table next to her bed. "I miss you."

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><p><strong>Okay, so it was planned to be up earlier but I was doing my Geometry homework while typing this up so it wasn't easy. Don't hate me! <strong>

**I know this isn't what you all anticipated for and me too. I mean, I didn't really like how it came out…I don't really know why though. I really liked doing Mandy and Elliott's relationship with their mothers though! Don't hate me for that too. **

**Oh, and if you're a bit confused, Leaf's bit started the day after the proposal. Yeah, I'm not happy about it either. It pained me to even type that. **

**Anyway, was it good, okay or bad? Tell me in the reviews! I would love to read what you thought of it! This may be my last update until possibly October because of school but I'll try to fit in Demon's Flower, okay? So, review and tell me what you thought of the chapter! **


	3. Just a Chance?

**New chapter guys! Since I have no school on Monday (Pupil Free Day for us!) I plan to start homework later so I'm working on this. Even though my GPA is really low right now, like 3.17, I'm going to type up this chapter because I feel like I've been inactive lately. **

**Thanks all so much for the reviews for last chapter. I didn't like myself very much for making him propose but its all part of the story so please bear with me, please? Oh, another thing you'll have to deal with for a while would be the Gary and Megan moments. Yes, I realize how much you would all hate me for this but please don't, I promise to make it good. Okay? (:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in anyway except for Megan, Mandy, Elliott and Danny. Enjoy!**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Three: Just a Chance?<strong>_

**Normal POV**

"Gary, I've heard that there are some rare bacteria growing in this small town. I'm kind of busy to travel there, so do you mind going there and checking it out for me?" the professor asked. They were currently in the research lab, searching some more information on some animal they were currently interested in.

The young scientist looked up from the microscope and turned to his grandfather. "When do I go and how long is it? Because Megan wants me to plan the wedding with her and you know how she is when she doesn't get it her way."

"Well, I was thinking about driving there tomorrow morning and you should arrive at Village Bridge in the afternoon or so. Don't worry, I've already contacted the village about it and they were more than happy to welcome and let you stay for a while. The stay there would depend on how long it'll take for you to get all the information," Professor Oak explained thoroughly, hoping he didn't forget anything.

"Village Bridge...I heard it's just a small village with just houses, no hotels or anything."

The professor snapped his fingers. "That's right, I knew I forgot something. The chief there said he got that all figured out. There is this resident in that village that has a spare room left and she agreed to let you stay over for the research. What do you say?"

Gary shrugged. "I don't really mind going there. I've always wanted to check that place out anyway. Sure, I'll help you out with your research there," he confirmed.

His grandfather smiled and nodded. "Very well, I'll inform the chief to expect you by tomorrow and he should be there to greet you at the entrance. From there, he'll take you to the house you'll stay in, is that okay with you." Gary shrugged again and nodded. "Okay, I'll send the rest of the information to you tonight. You may leave early today since you'll have to tell Megan about this and I don't know how she'll handle this so good luck, Gary."

The auburn haired male gulped and chuckled. "Thanks, Gramps." He headed for the door and shrugged off his lab coat before putting it on the rack. He bid his goodbye with his grandfather and then he was soon off to tell his fiancée about his new travel trip that may take a while. Boy was he in for a yelling once he tells her about it.

* * *

><p>"YOU'RE WHAT?" she exploded.<p>

Gary backed up a little; a bit afraid she was going to throw something at him. "It's just a small research trip, that's all," he consoled. "I promise I'll try to be back as soon as possible."

She sighed and sat back down on the couch and Gary took a seat next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist. "It's just I really wanted to do this planning thing together. Besides, what if I picked something you didn't like? Then it'll be a big problem."

He kissed her cheek and allowed her shoulders to fall back to rest on his shoulders. "I'll be fine with anything that you pick. You always did have great taste anyway so this shouldn't be problem. I trust you'll make this wedding wonderful." He looked deep into her eyes that softened during the talk, which replaced that angered look she had on just moments ago. "Once I get back, we'll finish what you didn't finish yet and then I'll see you in a beautiful wedding dress and soon, you'll be my wife."

Megan couldn't help but blush at the comment. Even after being with him for so long he still knew how to get to her. That was one thing that she loved about him. "Then you should hurry over there and come back then. I hate not seeing you for so long, especially when you don't even know how long you'll be gone. It just makes everything worst."

The man chuckled. "Don't worry; I'll hurry back, no need to worry about it okay?" Before she got a chance to say anything, he planted a kiss on her lips gently and when they broke apart, she couldn't help but keep a smile on her face. "You won't have to worry about anything, okay?"

She nodded and smiled from the reassurance. "Alright."

* * *

><p>"Mommy, I want to hear a bedtime story." The little girl looked at the older brunette with big round eyes that could make anyone feel sympathetic in just a second. Leaf cursed the fact that her daughter just had to inherit her genes and received the most amazing trick to get things whenever she wanted.<p>

She sighed and smiled down at the still puppy dogged face girl. "Okay, okay, what story do you want to hear tonight?" Mandy hesitated and didn't answer, which worried Leaf. Usually when Leaf asked what story she wanted to hear, one would immediately escape from her mouth. "Any kind of story would be okay. So what kind do you want to hear?"

"…Can Mommy tell me when you and Daddy first met each other?"

Leaf was going to reason with her with a different story but when she saw that saddened look in her daughter's face, she couldn't' help but to give in and tell her the story anyway. She deserved to know everything about her father anyway. "Okay, so when we were only five years old, Daddy wanted to play against Mommy in a soccer game when Mommy first came to Kanto. Being the confident girl she was, Mommy agreed to it and played. After a long game, Mommy was tired but Daddy won the game. He was impressed by her skills though because he was one of the best players back then.

"Soon after, he started to ask Mommy to play everything with him and then became the best of friends, kind of like how you and Elliott are right now," she finished. When she didn't hear anything, she looked down and saw that Mandy was spacing out and snapped her fingers in front of her daughter's face to catch her attention. "What's wrong? You usually love it when Mommy tells you these types of stories."

The little girl's eyes started to water a little. "Mommy said you and Daddy were best friends for a long time and now aren't even together. Does that mean Elliott is going to not like me when we grow up, Mommy?" she inquired.

The older brunette seemed almost taken aback by the sudden outburst but managed a small smile on her face as she brushed some bangs away from her daughter's face. "Don't think that way, honey. You two are going to stay friends forever, okay? I don't want you to ever think like that because it's not good for you to think bad things like that."

The girl's eyes widened. "Why is it so bad, Mommy?"

Leaf wanted to smirk badly with this. She knew she shouldn't be playing like this but she just couldn't resist playing with the naïve girl. She was just too adorable. "Well, I heard that if you think bad things like that, then late at night a bug will crawl into your belly and then make you feel really sick." Mandy just gaped at Leaf, who was doing her best to stifle in a laugh as she continued, "People say that there is only one way to make the bug go away. Do you want to know?" The girl nodded and Leaf placed her hands on top of her daughter's stomach and started to tickle her, making the girl laugh. "The only way to feel better again is to laugh it away!" she joked as she heard the soft laugh from her daughter.

"Mommy, you are a liar!" Mandy stated in between her laughs. Even though she was laughing, her words were still audible enough to hear.

And for a least half an hour, those two mother and daughter duo, they shared soft laughing and jokes with each other.

* * *

><p>"Hi, is this Isaac's mother? This is May Maple and I would like to inform you about what your son said to my son." It was already a day since the incident with the day that kid made fun of Elliott and May decided to teach the mother a lesson as of right now. "Well, your son told my son his father didn't want him. You're his mother and you don't even teach him some manners?"<p>

Elliott stayed in the room to focus on what his mother was saying. He decided to simply fake that he was asleep on the sofa and that meant he was able to listen in without getting in trouble.

"Excuse me? At least my son is nice enough to not say anything back! Your son just makes fun of others for his own enjoyment!" she argued back. "Oh so now you're saying that _I_ don't teach my child right? Well at least Elliott knows proper manners. All your son ever does is eat! Look how big he is right now!" she retorted. A smirk was slowly growing on her lips.

The little boy almost broke out laughing at the last comment but restrained himself as he knew it'll blow his cover and continued to listen on the conservation. "No, you listen to me. I don't care what you teach him but don't even dare to come close to my child or Mandy. Unless you don't want to be in big trouble then I suggest you to teach that son of yours some manners or you'll regret the day you ever met May Maple," she threatened, a dark aura surrounding her. "Okay, bye," she answered gleefully.

The brunette walked over to the couch and sat by her son's side, playing with his brown locks. "Mommy told Isaac's mom about what he did and she says he is sorry."

"Is he going to continue picking on me?" he questioned. He figured it's safer to play dumb than reveal the fact he wasn't actually asleep.

May smirked and cross you arms. "Okay, either you are deaf or you just didn't hear what I said over at the phone just a few minutes ago."

He gulped and nodded. "I'm sorry, Mommy! I didn't mean to pretend to sleep, I swear! Please don't hurt me. Elliott promises to be good. Pinky promise!"

May giggled lightly at her son's goofy side. He definitely got part of his personality from her and she couldn't be anymore happy. At least now she wouldn't be the only slow one around the house; she has Elliott to be slow with. May looked at the time and her eyes nearly popped at the time and picked Elliott up from the couch.

"Come on, it's getting late and you still have to go to school tomorrow."

* * *

><p>When Gary arrived to Village Bridge the next day in the afternoon, he didn't see any chief waiting for him and decided to wait for a little while and after some time and no one came, he left on his own and started to walk around town. He stopped at the famous bridge and enjoyed the view from there. The air at the village was calm and serene, making every part of him a whole lot calmer than before. Although it was a quiet place, he still found the place amazing and thought about moving there after getting married with Megan. He knew she would like it; the clouds were puffy and white, clear blue skies, the smell of fresh water, and the welcoming air the village seemed to give out.<p>

He was snapped from his train of thoughts when he heard multiple chatters near the bridge. He looked down and noticed a group of five year olds, probably taking a small trip, with their kindergarten teachers. He smiled fondly at the kids down there playing, enjoying their free time. He found himself drawn to someone though. A little girl, to be exact. Even though he sworn he had never met her, he felt a kind of connection, almost as if he was supposed to know her. '_Could it be? That she's part of my past?'_ he thought to himself.

He then realized how ridiculous that just sounded and chuckled to himself.

"What's wrong with me? She's only five years old and I'm far too old to know her."

Even though he tried to avoid the girl, he couldn't. He could only watch her, already feeling the need to protect her when she was approached by another girl. He then lost all things to the real world and only focused on the two kids down the bridge.

* * *

><p>"Stop sticking around Elliott, he doesn't even like you," a blonde told Mandy.<p>

The girl just stood there, unfazed by the comment. "Elliott's my friend, I have to play with him," she stated confidently. "My mommy said we will always be best friends."

The girl snorted. "Your mommy is just a liar! She even made your daddy go away!"

Mandy covered her ears, not wanting to hear more of what the girl was going to continue about Leaf. Luckily, Elliott was there and stood protectively in front of her. "Stop making fun of Mandy, Cindy! I'm going to keep playing with Mandy because she's nice, unlike you! Now go away and stop hurting my friend."

The girl crossed her arms and smirked after some time of standing there. She grabbed a nearby soccer ball and went up to Mandy, gathering her friends with her. "Then I challenge you to a game of soccer. Whoever wins will get to play with Elliott. Pick your team."

Mandy looked nervously at the other students and none of them were willing to participate. It wasn't because they didn't like her, no, they liked her a lot, but Cindy was so intimidating that even the toughest kindergartners were afraid of her.

Cindy raised an eyebrow. "Well, your team or you lose."

Mandy opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by a voice. "I'll play in her team then," he said confidently.

They all turned to see who it was and saw spiky hair with a smirk plastered on the face with green eyes to match with. Cindy frowned and shook her head. "You don't count! You have to be in this school to play!" she argued.

Gary looked smugly down on her. "Well where are the rules that say that?"

When she didn't say anything, he took it as an okay and walked to Mandy, lowering down to her level. "Don't worry; I won't let you separate from your friend."

Soon, the game started and Gary got the ball, running effortlessly with the ball on his feet, rolling to the net and dodging kids from left to right. He kicked the ball into the net and scored one point. Mandy started to cheer. The game continued and not even five minutes later, he had won with five to one. Mandy ran happily to him and hugged his legs.

"Thank you Mister for helping me win this game!" she thanked with Elliott.

He smiled and ruffled both their heads. "No problem," he said.

Then a grin split onto Mandy's face as she looked up and Gary, almost scaring him with the grin. "You should meet Mommy! She said that she used to play soccer a lot with my daddy! Here let me take you to her, she's really nearby!" She started to drag the male away to the sandwich shop Leaf worked at, telling the teachers Gary had permission to pick her up early.

It wasn't a long walk. They reached there within three minutes Mandy called from outside. "MOMMY!" she called.

Leaf ran out of the shop with a worried look on her face. "What's wrong, Mandy?" she asked frantically.

Her daughter simply grinned and pointed up at Gary. "It's Daddy! He just played a game of soccer against Cindy and her team and helped me win so Elliott can still be my friend. He is really good at it like how you said in your story!"

Rather than looking at Gary, Leaf put her hands on her hips. "Mandy, just because this man is good at soccer doesn't mean he's your daddy." She finally looked up. "I'm sorr-." She was cut short when she saw the face and just like that, time had stopped.

_You're back._

* * *

><p><strong>UGH, LAME CHAPTER. I just noticed I never really said that in my previous chapters but I just had to for this one. I was so tired when I was typing this and so that would explain the crappy writing. I am really sorry for that. I promise next chapter will be better. <strong>

**OOHH, THEY FINALLY MEET! WHAT WILL HAPPEN FROM HERE NOW? WELL, YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AN SEE! :D**

**Haha, well anyway, please review! They really make me happy and it motivates me to write faster you know! So, if you want faster updates then review! They really do make me happy when I see a review alert in my mail, I'm not kidding. So…REVIEW PLEASE.**


	4. It's You

**You guys didn't leave this story did you? Good, 'cause I'm updating right now! My teachers were kind enough to not assign homework this weekend so I managed to fit time to type this up for you guys because I think you all waited long enough to see what happens. I'm so happy. My grades are finally improved in the 3.50 GPA and I'm fifteen soon on October 14. Yay. **

**Anyway, thank you all so much for reviewing last chapter. 64 reviews, dang, that's like a new record. I've never received that much in just a few chapters. Ha ha, but don't stop reviewing, please! It means a lot to me when I read your lovely reviews so please continue. Well, now that I'm done, enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters except for OC's you don't recognize from the cartoon.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Four: It's You<strong>_

**Normal POV**

"Wait, he's at Village Bridge?" a shocked Misty inquired.

It was currently recess time and while the kids were out having fun, Misty met up with Ash so they could spend some time together.

"Yeah, why? What's wrong with that?"

The redhead debated whether or not she should tell him about Leaf living there. But Gary had already proposed so what difference would it have made if she told him now. But what if Ash got mad that she's been keeping it as a secret? She sighed and decided to just tell him.

"Because Ash, Leaf is living there right now."

It took a while for Ash to process what Misty had just said. Leaf, Gary, and Village Bridge. Then, when it finally clicked in his head, his eyes widened as he stared at Misty.

"He won't remember though, right?"

Misty shrugged. "We don't know that for sure. He's bound to remember though. There's no way someone can forget their whole past forever. I just hope that when he regains his memory, it won't be too late." She sighed and looked down at the ground. "Dawn and I have been lying to Leaf and May about Gary. We've never told them about his memory loss, or the fact that he's with Megan. It won't do Leaf any good."

Ash noticed the saddened look on his girlfriend's face and pulled her into an embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Its okay, Mist. We'll figure something out, I promise. Besides, I'm sure he'll remember once he see's her," he consoled. "Don't worry, okay?"

He felt her head nod and they stayed in that position for a while before being interrupted.

"Excuse me, Ash- Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting." A girl with her blue hair tied into a ponytail stood in there doorway, her chocolate brown eyes shifting to Misty. "Hello, Miss. Waterflower," she greeted politely.

"Hello, uh, who are you?" Misty questioned. She hoped the question didn't sound rude or anything.

She smiled and walked over to the two to let her hand out to greet Misty.

"I'm Duplica, Mr. Ketchum's assistant. Oh, that reminds me, here are the worksheets you asked for." She handed him the stack of papers she had in her hands and handed it to him.

"Thanks, Duplica."

"Uh, I hope you don't mind me asking, but why are you his assistant? Why not just be a teacher?" Misty inquired curiously.

Though she knew it wasn't like her to act like it, Misty had to be sure that she wasn't interested in Ash in any way. It was dumb, Misty knew that. But she didn't want to risk anything.

"Oh, that's because I just got out of college and I wanted to see how it's like to be a teacher and all so I asked to be an assistant to help out so I'll know my way around when I'm actually a teacher. The principal here just gave me to Ash to help him out so here I am," she explained.

Misty looked for any trace of lies and found none. She mentally slapped herself for the stupid thought of someone trying to steal Ash. She was getting way too clingy and Misty Waterflower did not do clingy. She opened her mouth to say something but the bell to indicate that recess was over interrupted her.

"It's nice to meet you, Duplica. Ash, I'll see you later then." She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek and left the room.

She watched as Ash's eyes followed Misty's retrieving body to the door. The love in his eyes was evident. "You really love her, don't you?" she asked when Misty walked out the door and out of an earshot.

He nodded. "Yeah, I do. I just wish I knew how to express it so she would know," he answered sheepishly.

She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I can help you."

* * *

><p><strong>Leaf's POV<strong>

Those eyes, they were _them. _No doubt about it; and those spikes of a hair haven't changed one bit. But, why is he here of all places, of all times? Our eyes connected and it felt just like before. Everything around us was gone and it was just the both of us; it was like the first time we met again six years ago.

He waved his hand in front of me. "Are you okay? Hello?"

I immediately snapped out of my thoughts and looked down at Mandy, who had a worried look on her face and reluctantly looked back at him, trying my best to avoid his eyes.

It was strange. The person in front of me was definitely Gary Oak, but his tone was so distant. It was as if he was talking to a complete stranger. That's why I avoided saying his name on the spot. I could be walking on tight rope right now.

"I'm so sorry about that. My daughter just really wants to see her father," I explained, trying to keep it short and to the point.

He chuckled. "It's alright. I'm Gary Oak," he greeted.

Wait, why is he introducing himself? Did he hate me that much that he pretended not to know me? In order to show that I didn't know him for Mandy's sake, I played along.

"I'm Leaf Green; this is my daughter, Mandy Green."

I let out my hand for him to shake, might as well just do it formally if he wanted to forget about me. He shook it with a gentle smile on his face. When our hands touched, I felt a rush of electricity run through my hands and I'm pretty sure he felt it too by the look on his face. What the hell, sparks aren't supposed to be there anymore!

We quickly released our hands and I looked down. "He's Daddy, right, Mommy?" I heard Mandy ask.

"No, Mandy," I said rather quickly. "This man is not Daddy, okay? Ask him."

She turned and looked up at him with her big forest green eyes while he gave her an apologetic smile as he held up his left hand to show her – for me too, I guess – something. On his fourth finger was a silver _engagement _band. "I'm sorry, I'm engaged."

I fought hard to swallow that lump in my throat to speak again. "See Mandy, now say you're sorry."

"I'm sorry, Mister." She turned back to me. "Mommy, can we go home now?" she asked.

"Don't you want to go back to school though? It's still really early."

She shook her head. "No, I don't want to. Please, Mommy?"

I bit my bottom lip as I decided. Well, one day would be fine. "Okay, but we need to go pick up Elliott first, okay?"

She grabbed my hand and started to drag me to the direction where the school was today. Oh right, it was Friday which meant they would be at the river bank. I still couldn't help but wonder though, how did those two meet exactly?

* * *

><p><strong>Normal POV<strong>

Gary stood outside of the restaurant staring into blank space.

_What exactly just happened?_ he thought. He was brought back to reality when someone shook him by the shoulder.

"Excuse me, are you Gary Oak?" an old man asked.

"Yeah," he answered.

Gary took a better look at him. He took note that this man was short and seemed rather frail. Nonetheless though, he still had a gentle look and small smile on his face.

"Nice to meet you, I'm the mayor of this town. Just call me Ethan. Now what are you doing out here? Have you heard of our sandwiches?"

Gary chuckled. "No, a little girl just dragged me here, thinking I was her father. She just left with her mother who works here," he explained.

"Oh, did she look around five with long coffee colored hair? With green eyes?" he interrogated. Gary nodded. "Her mother has long brown hair right? Green eyes as well?" Gary nodded again. "Ah, then you met the Greens. Come, let's walk to where you're staying and I'll tell you more about them.

The spiky haired male obliged and walked alongside with the mayor as they headed for his car to grab his things and continued to the house. "So is there any particular reason why she thought I was her father?" he asked.

Ethan nodded. "Poor girl never met her father. When her mother came here six years ago, she was already pregnant but the child didn't belong with the man she was with. Her mother told her a story once her father was great at soccer."

"So that's why she thought I was her father. I helped her with a game because this other girl was challenging her for her best friend. This little boy with brown hair as well."

"That little boy you're talking about must be Elliott Maple then. Both their mothers came here pregnant, neither child belonging to the man they came with. Danny, the man who came with them, is one of our people who brought them here. He's just their close friend. Those two young women were great singers and in a band too. It's such a shame they both had to give birth so soon at such a young age. They would've made it far.

"The band was Heartbeat, if you're wondering. They were a wonderful and popular group. It was a big shock to find that two of the members were going to live here with kids. But back to the subject, those two are best friends and well, I guess their kids are following their examples and being best friends."

Gary gradually let the new information sink in. _Heartbeat, _where had he hear that name before? He racked his brain for something to come up but came up with nothing. "So those two kids have known each other for a long time already?"

"Since they were in diapers," Ethan remarked.

"I hope my kids can find friends like those two." He sounded hopeful talking about it. When he saw Ethan's confused face, he flashed him his ring. "I'm getting married soon," he answered.

The elder man smiled. "Congratulations. I hope you finish your research soon, then so you can get back to your fiancée."

"Thank you," Gary said sincerely. _These people here are kind_, he thought to himself.

They suddenly came into an abrupt stop and the spiky haired male turned to look at the house before him. It didn't look ordinary like any of the houses there. It gave out a welcoming aura and had a homey feeling. The mayor reached out to open the small white gate and made his way to the door and knocked. After a feel moments, the door opened to reveal the same woman Gary had met earlier.

"Mayor Ethan, what brings you here?" she asked, not noticing Gary's presence at all yet.

He smiled. "Well, remember when I asked you about that spare room of yours?" She nodded. "And when I asked how you felt about someone living here for a while." She nodded again. "Well," he gestured to Gary, "here he is."

Her eyes followed where his gestures were at and her eyes widened slightly by the sight but quickly covered it up. "Uh, may I speak to you privately?" she asked. Ethan agreed and the two went out to the yard.

"Is it possible that he lives somewhere else?" she inquired, sounding almost hopeful.

"What's wrong with him living here? You said it was fine just a few days ago."

She sighed. "It doesn't seem right for him to be living with us. I'm a single mother and all with Mandy. She might take it the wrong way," she reasoned.

"I'm sorry, Leaf but it's too late to change your mind. There are no other vacant rooms and yours is the only one with a spare room. Please, he's not going to stay here long."

The brunette sighed again in defeat. "Alright, I'll let him stay."

The mayor bid his goodbye and left while Leaf went back to the door entrance, where Gary stood. "Aren't you going to go in?" she asked, pointing inside the house.

"I'm sorry; I thought there was a problem about me staying here."

She shook her head. "No, nothing's wrong. Please, go in," she insisted.

He obliged and stepped into the small house. In front of him were two small flights of stairs, each flight containing only about five steps and to his right was the kitchen entrance whereas his other side was the living room. It wasn't as spacious as the house he lived in with the guys but he found this house cozier and offered a hospitality feeling and it fitted her standards well.

"You live in a nice house," he commented.

"Thanks," she said hesitantly. "I'll be right back. Just look around for a bit, sit down. I'll go set up your room."

"I can help," he offered.

"It's okay, I don't need help. It's the least I should do for helping Mandy and Elliott today." And without a word, she left upstairs leaving him alone.

He walked around the living room, looking at the photos and shelves. On one set of a shelf held framed pictures of Leaf with Heartbeat along with their music awards.

"Seems like he wasn't kidding about her in a band," he said to himself.

He then looked next to the shelf which was a much smaller shelf with pictures of Mandy and Elliott and Leaf and Mandy together. He smiled fondly at a picture of the two mother and daughter photo with both of them smiling straight at the camera with complete bliss.

"There really is no father in this house," he said when he took notice of each picture with no man.

Suddenly, Mandy came downstairs, hoping to find her mother but quickly took notice of the spiky haired man. Her eyes widened and she broke into a grin, running to him.

"You're here, Daddy!" she yelled, hugging his leg.

"Uh, I thought your mother said I wasn't your father."

"But you are good at soccer! My mommy says he was really good at it," she explained.

Gary bent down to her eye level and stared in her eyes. He instantly felt connected to her and felt the need to protect her. He opened his mouth to say something until he was interrupted.

"Mandy, are you bothering him?"

She turned sharply to look at her mother and shook her head. "No, Mommy," she said quickly.

Leaf ushered her quickly to her and she obeyed, running to her mother. Leaf bent down her level and looked serious. "Mandy, for the last time, this man is not Daddy. You cannot call him that anymore, okay? You can only call him by Mister Oak, got it?"

"She can just call me Uncle Gary if she wants," Gary offered. Leaf had completely forgot this was a small house and there wasn't really anywhere to speak privately other than outside. "She's still a kid. It's better for her to say that anyway rather than being formal," he reasoned.

"Can I say that, Mommy?" Mandy asked.

Leaf hated seeing her daughter have that pleading look on her face so she sighed and nodded.

"Okay, you can call him Uncle Gary."

Mandy grinned and hugged Leaf around the neck.

"Yay, thank you, Mommy!"

Leaf smiled and hugged her daughter back before replying, "You're welcome, Mandy."

From the small distance, a smile slowly crept onto Gary's face. They made the perfect family pair, he noted. It surprised him that a man would even walk out on someone as precious as Mandy.

"So is my room ready now?"

"You're living here?" Mandy almost yelled it rather than ask it.

Gary chuckled. "Yes, Mandy, I'm going to be staying here for a while," he confirmed.

She nearly squealed and grabbed his hand. "Come on, let's go! I'll show you where your room is and show you my room!"

"Okay, okay, let's go."

* * *

><p>That night, the three were eating their dinner. Leaf had made sure she made enough for the extra person and since she didn't know how much Gary ate now, she got him an average amount of food.<p>

"So how long are you planning to stay here?" Leaf questioned.

Gary shrugged as he slurped the pasta in his mouth. "It depends how long it'll take for me to get all the information I need on the new bacteria. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," she answered simply. "But, I'm just saying you should finish sooner so you can go back to that fiancée of yours." He wore a confused look his face as she pointed to his ring finger. "You're getting married, remember?" she stated bluntly.

Since Mandy felt an argument was going to happen soon, she came up with something to change the subject. "Mommy," she called, attracting Leaf's attention. "Tonight, can Uncle Gary read for me?"

Leaf raised an eyebrow at her. "Why? What's wrong with Mommy telling stories?"

"But Mommy looks sleepy today. Uncle Gary can read to me and Mommy can sleep early tonight!" she reasoned.

For what seemed like the millionth time, Leaf sighed. "Okay, he can read to you, after you finish eating, okay?"

The little girl started to eat her pasta faster and Leaf smiled at her daughter while Gary watched the both of them and how they communicate. Seems like they're really close, he noted.

* * *

><p>While Gary read to the little girl, Leaf was washing the dishes. When she was done, she proceeded to clean the dinner table. It didn't take too long considering not much mess was caused so she was able to finish quickly and was rinsing the rag when Gary walked in.<p>

"I forgot to ask today, but do we know each other?"

The brunette stopped what she was doing and turned to him. "What?"

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I tend to ask a lot of people that. You see, ever since I got out of surgery, I can't remember my past. The only things I remember now are the things I did these past six years," he clarified.

"Surgery…" she repeated.

"Yeah, so do we know each other?"

She shook her head. "No," she said quickly. "We don't know each other."

Even as she said those words, she felt the pain in her chest. She _wanted _to tell him everything but something stopped her. The _promise _that she would leave him so he can be breathing today stopped her. Even if it meant hurting herself, she was going to lie for his sake.

"Are you sure? I me-"

"I'm sure, we don't know each other. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to bed now. Don't forget to turn off the lights." Without another word, she rushed upstairs to avoid anymore questions and left him there to think things through.

_What are you hiding, Leaf Green?_

* * *

><p><strong>Next day<strong>

As promised, Misty and Dawn had returned on Saturday. It was no surprise for Leaf to see them at the door but it was certainly a surprise for the two to find out Gary was staying over for the moment.

"You mean he's staying here, in _this house_?" Dawn inquired.

Leaf nodded meekly.

"Yeah, I tried asking the mayor if he can stay somewhere else but there's no where else. I really hope he gets this over with quick and just go back to that fiancée of his."

They both stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

"His _what?" _Dawn half-shrieked.

"No need to be so dramatic, Dawn. Besides, haven't Paul told you yet?" Misty asked.

She shook her head. "No, he didn't even bother bringing that subject up! That jerk will have to go through weeks of shopping with me if he wants me to forgive him now," she said darkly.

"Wait, who is he getting married to?" Leaf questioned. "And why aren't you two as surprised as I am with the fact that he's been dating someone?"

The two exchanged looks and mentally deciding who was going to tell Leaf. Misty finally gulped and looked at Leaf.

"He's marrying Megan," she said hesitantly.

It took all of Leaf to not say anything about this. Heck, her mind was still digesting this new information in. This was something she did not see coming. Hearing this information made her heart break, hurt like hell. She _felt _like hell. But she remembered _she _left _him, _so there was nothing wrong with that. Plus the fact that he doesn't even remember her made it easier for her to live her life. He won't ever remember her and all the pain she gave him and enjoy his new life with Megan being happily married. _For Gary,_ she reminded herself.

Just then, chattering and footsteps were heard from upstairs. They diverted their attention to the flight of stairs and down came the two chatting people, Gary and Mandy. The little girl stopped when she saw Misty and Dawn and ran to them.

"Good morning Aunt Dawn and Aunt Misty," she greeted gleefully.

"Good morning," they greeted in unison. Misty then turned to Gary. "Hi, you must be Gary Oak. I'm Ash's girlfriend, Misty Waterflower. I believe we haven't properly met yet." She let her hand out for him to shake.

"Oh yeah, Ash has told me all about you, nice to meet you." Then he saw Dawn. "Then you must be Dawn Berlitz, Paul's girlfriend?"

Dawn smiled and shook his hand. "Yeah, nice to finally meet the grandson of the famous Professor Oak."

He chuckled. "Yeah, he's pretty famous, isn't he?" He looked at the clock and his eyes nearly popped. "Sorry to leave so early but I have to get started on my research now. Again, nice to meet you all," he said quickly before leaving the house.

Not soon after, May walked in with Elliott. "I knew those cars belonged to you two," she commented when she saw Misty and Dawn.

"It's nice to see you too, May," Dawn giggled.

The two hugged and then they started talking while the two kids were outside playing, enjoying each others' company.

"He doesn't remember anything," Leaf stated. "He only remembers the things he did these past six years, nothing else. He doesn't remember me, or our memories." She almost choked on the lump she's been fighting and almost gave in. "No, I won't cry. It's better this way anyway," she confirmed.

Each of the girls exchanged looks. "Leaf…" May started. "It's okay to let it out."

"No, I'm fine, really. If he remembers, he would remember me walking out on him when he needed me the most and he'll hate me forever."

"We're so sorry, Leaf," Dawn apologized. "We knew all along that he lost his memories and everything. It's just that you were doing so fine already and we didn't think you'd meet anytime soon. We planned to tell you...The chance just never came up where it was the perfect time."

"And even though it was a terrible idea considering how bad of a situation we're in right now, we just didn't want to say anything to Gary. He seemed so happy with Megan and it's pretty obvious she's told him about his past already," Misty explained. "And I'm sure it didn't include you, knowing her. If we were to ever bring it up, he wouldn't know who you are."

The brunette simply shook her head as she pushed her tears back. It wasn't her friends' fault, she told herself. They were only looking out for her and did what she would've done.

"It's fine, guys. I don't blame you for doing that. It was for my own good anyway."

The room fell silent for a couple of minutes before Dawn piped, "Do you plan on telling him anything?"

The brunette shook her head. "Nope," she answered simply. Then she turned to May. "How about you, May? Do you plan on telling him your real name? Or a fake one in case he tells Drew?"

"I'm going to tell him my actual name. It's not going to be good if Elliott sees me lying and follows it. I don't care if he tells Drew but setting a bad example is worse." May had a small smile. "Elliott's such a good boy; I don't want him to do anything bad at such a young age."

From there, the girls all talked about how their life was going and how they enjoyed their current jobs before noticing the time. It was starting to strike six when the kids returned back inside the house and sitting with their two mothers and Gary came in not soon after.

"Mommy, that's the nice man that helped Mandy yesterday!" Elliott told May.

May smiled and looked at Gary.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm May Maple."

"Gary Oak, Professor Oak's grandson. I'm sure you know I'm going to be living here for a while."

She nodded. "Yes, I heard that."

A silence soon came up and they each searched for something to say. Then May stood up with Elliott.

"We're going to go now. I still have to make dinner."

Then Dawn jumped from her seat. "I forgot! I had to meet up with Paul tonight. I'll see you next time, okay? Bye guys!" With that, her and May left.

"You're not going yet, Misty?" Leaf asked.

Misty looked at the time.

"I should since I still have a bunch of papers to grade. Ugh, being a teacher is so hard."

Leaf giggled lightly at her friend. "Its okay, Mist. You should go then and finish it. I have to get started on dinner anyway."

The two friends hugged and soon the redhead was out. Mandy had already gone to play with Gary on one of the couches so Leaf decided to start on dinner. As she was cooking, she kept hearing his chuckles mixed with Mandy's giggles and a small smile made its way to her face. She peered out at them and her eyes slowly softened at the sight. They were just like actual father and daughter.

_If only you knew who she really was._

* * *

><p><strong>And chapter four is done! You're all probably confused so I'll have a brief explanation here: Leaf doesn't know about Gary's memory loss so that's why she was confused at first! Gary has never met any of the girls but he has heard of them from his friends so he knows there names. Okay? Good. I let Gary live there to make up the GaryMegan moments, so is that alright? I bet you guys didn't see that coming. **

**Ahaha, was this chapter long enough for you readers? I hope it was because I used up half my day writing his chapter! Well, I don't know when my next update is going to be so this may be the last update of the month or so. I'm sorry!**

**Review please! Your reviews make me so happy whenever I read them. They encourage me and I actually feel like I want to write more because of you guys so please review! They make me happy and everything! Plus, it's my birthday next week so it would be nice to get reviews as my birthday gift. :3**


	5. Music Connection

**Hey guys, I'm back with another installment of Remember the Past! I hope you all appreciate me for doing this for you because I have a busy weekend and I'm taking time off just to do this for you guys. Trust me, I still have to work on a poster board for the two great gods, Demeter and Dionysus, and then make a skit on them with my group and then take notes on the Earliest Heroes and a book report, due Monday, for English. My good weekend is gone. **

**Ha, ha, I absolutely love reading your reviews. They always amuse me with the hate you have for Megan and everything. Ah, you have no idea how happy I get when I receive reviews for my stories from you guys. I mean 87 already. All because of you, so thank you. :)**

**Anyway, let's get started on the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters except for Megan, Danny, Mandy, and Elliott. **

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Five: Music Connection<strong>_

**Normal POV**

It was pitch purple that morning. Only because it was only six in the morning. Birds were rarely out but some were still chirping. Everyone was still in their cozy bed, asleep. All except one house where piano notes were being played.

Her fingers glided through the white keys flawlessly, as if she had played the song a million times and hummed some tune out as she did so. The brunette sat straight as she started from the first note again but this time, added lyrics with the music. _"...I wish nothing but the best, for you too. Don't forget me, I beg, I remember you said. 'Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead." _Because she liked how it flowed, she smiled, and wrote it down.

Gary was woken up by the piano playing. He decided to slowly creep down the stairs, careful not to make any noise. He stood at the edge of the last step and watched as the brunette continued the song. 'She has a good voice,' he thought. Then, when the song ended, he clapped by instinct, surprising the young women. She turned around hesitantly.

"How long were you standing there?" she inquired.

He shrugged. "Not long," he replied. "That wasn't so bad," he commented.

She still sat on the sleek black bench as she stared at him. "Thanks," she responded.

Silence then took over the two as they searched for something to start a conversation. Leaf wanted to leave so badly back to her room but it would be rude and he may suspect something if she did something like that. Gary, on the other hand, wanted to know more about her. He knew there was something about her; he just couldn't place his finger on it.

"So you play the piano," he asked, mentally slapping himself for asking such a ridiculous question.

She gave him a weird look but nodded. "Yeah, for a long time now. I just took a small break, that's all. Do you play any instruments?"

"I play guitar," he answered coolly. Then he turned to his left and noticed a tan acoustic guitar sitting on its stand and raised an eyebrow at the brunette. "You play it too?"

She shrugged. "I'm not as good as May or Dawn but yeah, I play a little."

"Would you mind if I try it out?" he asked. Leaf bit her bottom lip and nodded hesitantly. He headed there and took it out of its place and started to strum it and fixing the chord.

"Do you write songs?" Leaf asked.

"Yeah," he replied sheepishly. "I'm actually trying to write a new song for my wedding day. Would you mind helping me out?"

The brunette was taken aback. She certainly was not expecting him to ask her to help him write a song, especially when she tried to avoid him as much as possible. She wanted to say no but something inside of her stopped her from doing so. That inside was hurting her because she finally realized that he's finally gone. The Gary Oak she once knew was gone from this world; he's never going to remember her. That made her stomach churn. Then she remembered that as long as he was happy, then it would be fine. She wanted this for him, so to show that she supported him and Megan together, she nodded. "Sure, I can try to help you. Sing me the line you're stuck on."

He nodded and started strumming the guitar with the guitar, playing it perfectly. _"…And I will take, you in my arms, and hold you right where you belong. _And I'm stuck there," he added embarrassedly.

She smiled at the tune of the song. "How about, _'Till the day my life is through, this I promise you…This I promise you.' _Is that good?"

He started to strum the notes again and sang the lyrics along with him as he went through it. "It's actually not bad." He started to strum again, making up lyrics as he went along with Leaf adding in some words every now and then. Soon, they were singing the song together, harmonizing each other perfectly.

"_I'll give you my word,_

_I'll give you my heart,_

_This is a battle we've won,_

_And with this vow, forever has now begun."_

"It's a very good song," Leaf commented.

"Thanks, you're a great songwriter, you know that?"

The brunette secretly smiled to herself. "Thank you, I dabble a bit."

He smirked. "Or maybe the fact that you were in a band makes it easier to write songs," he stated, pointing to the shelf that held her pictures with the band.

Leaf gaped at him. She had not expected him to actually look at that shelf but now that she knew, maybe she should take it down. "It's been a while since I actually wrote songs though," she retorted.

Gary shrugged. "It still doesn't change the fact that you were in a band, that's cheating on the songwriter, you know?"

Leaf playfully punched him on the arm. "Oh, be quiet. C'mon, let's get back to the song." She took the sheets and read through it before taking the guitar from him and started playing the song, singing the lyrics aloud as she played it. "Wow, now that I sing it out loud, it's actually a pretty good song. This girl must be special for you to write a song for her."

Gary smiled fondly at the thought of Megan as he leaned back on the couch and looking at the engagement band on his ring finger. "She is special. When I first woke up from my surgery, she was there and since then, she's been there with me through it all. She showed me how to do things again, helped me remember my friends, family other people I should know. She even told me about my past, you know, before the surgery."

Leaf was suddenly interested. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she told me that there would always be this girl that I would always hang out with, how we did practically everything together, that we were best friends. It makes me want to remember those times." For a split second, Leaf felt warm inside as he described this past. It was what they did, they were best friends. She opened her mouth to say something but he beat her to it. "Her name's Megan. She was my childhood friend and helped me through my hardships.

"She even told me that I used to be a player in my teenage years, but someone changed me. When I asked her who it was, she said it was her. It made me realize that she was always there for me, so I gave her a chance and I never regretted it." He chuckled slightly. "Who knew that I would actually have the guts to propose to her."

"You love her," she stated. Leaf's voice almost cracked from the lump that was stuck in her throat.

He nodded. "Yeah, I do love her. She's the reason I'm here today."

The tears were edging her waterline; Leaf felt them. She felt the fresh warm tears that were literally begging her to let them spill down her face. The brunette didn't allow it though, no, she wiped them away with her long sleeves before standing up from the piano bench. "It's getting late; I should be going to get ready. Mandy will be up in an hour or so." She soon realized how much time she had used up talking to him and cursed under her breath and started heading for the stairs. "You can go back to sleep if you want. Just a tip, not the couch; it may be comfy but it's not going to be after sleeping on it," she advised before heading upstairs to her room.

The moment Leaf closed her room door she stumbled to the ground, having her back against the door and knees pulled up to her chest as she let out her tears. The pain was back. Throughout the six years, she had never experienced the pain. She let her guard down, that's why it was hurting. She let him join her during her music session when she should've walked away when she had her chance, not stick around. This was her consequence for doing so. The thought only made her cry harder but she held the sobs back as she was afraid it would wake Mandy up or Gary might hear it and ask if she was okay. She didn't want that.

After another ten minutes of letting her tears out, she decided to stop and looked at the mirror. Bags met her when she saw herself. "Why do you always find a way to get to me, Gary Oak?"

* * *

><p>"So Drew, that new song of yours is really popular and fans love it," a spokesperson commented.<p>

The green haired male smirked and flicked his hair, making the female population swoon over it. "Yeah, I'm guessing it's a big hit."

"Now tell us, what's the reason behind this song, _Check Yes Juliet_? Does it have to do with a girl?" she interrogated, eyebrows raised.

"Let's just say I loved this girl and even though my father didn't accept her, I did, and we escaped together, despite his orders." He did his best not to let out too much information on his past relationship with May.

"And do we know this mysterious girl?"

He shook his head. "No, no you don't. She's out of my life now."

"Oh, we get it, you two are over. So, is there anyone who catches your eye at this moment?" she inquired batting her lashes at him.

The green haired male found it disgusting. The woman must have been at least in her thirties, and she was hitting on him. He thought about his answer. On one hand it would be better to have fan girls off his ass about being with him but the downside to lying about liking a girl will make paparazzi follow him basically everywhere and he did not want them following him. He sighed, deciding to just come out with the truth. "To be honest, no, no one catches my attention at the moment and I'm not looking," he added the last part the moment he saw the spokesperson started batting her lashes again.

She straightened herself out and cleared her throat again before talking again. "Well then, thank you again Drew for being here today. We look forward to having you here in the future." The both stood from their seats and shook hands.

"And we are off," the director called before turning the camera off.

"I'm taking my leave now," Drew called, already halfway to the door.

"Wait, Drew," she called. He didn't bother stopping to see what she wanted. He knew what she wanted. She wanted a date with him and he was not going out with some old hag like her, he told himself as he continued his walk to his car.

On his way home from Nimbasa City, he received a call. "Hello?... Hey, Mom…Right now?... Alright, I'll be there in no time." He hung up and turned back, heading to Lacunosa Town, where his mother worked at a flower shop.

When he got there, it was already sunset. He started to make his way through the door when a little boy with brown hair ran past him, almost knocking the man down. Then when he finally got his balance back, a brunette woman ran past him, knocking him down entirely.

"Sorry there," she called back before turning back to the boy. "C'mon Elliott, Mommy isn't playing anymore. I still have to sign out!"

Drew just gave her a weird look before chuckling to himself. The way the kid teased his mother reminded him of the times he spent with May. _May. _He cleared his head and walked in to greet his mother who was at the counter.

"Drew, I'm glad you were able to make it! One of my workers is leaving early today but there are still some pots of flowers I would love to bring out. Can you help me get them from the storage room and bring it out, please?"

He flicked his hair and headed straight to the storage room. "Sure thing, Mom," he said coolly.

Just when he left, the same brunette walked back in with her struggling son in her arms. "I'm going to sign out right now then, okay, Mrs. Hayden. Elliott really wants to see Mandy since he hasn't seen her all day today," she explained.

The woman giggled. "Alright, May, I'll see you tomorrow, then. Bye Elliott."

"Bye bye, Grandma Hayden!"

"Bye, Mrs. Hayden." And with that, the two Maple duos left the shop…right before Drew came out with two pots of flowers.

"Where do you want me to put these, Mom?"

She pointed to a counter with two empty spots. "Just over there would be fine, thanks, son."

* * *

><p>"I don't get it, how come you don't want to do anything about Gary marrying that girl?" Dawn interrogated. "I mean, she isn't even right for him!"<p>

Paul pinched the bridge of his nose. "Troublesome, we can't do anything about it now. It's too late. Besides, he doesn't even remember his past so why would it matter?"

By now, the bluenette had already felt like pulling her hair out but restrained herself from doing so. "But he can remember it and when he does, he'll be married to someone he doesn't even love."

"Then why don't you try talking some sense into him?" he grunted. "His reaction is not going to be a good one. That's the reason why we've always avoided the subject whenever he asked about his past relationships. We know that if he finds out about being left behind, he'll be furious."

Dawn was about to retort back when she realized he had a good point and sat back down on his seat. "Even though he'll be furious, wouldn't it be better if he remembers? At least he won't have to be married to someone he doesn't truly love. Admit Paul, you want him to remember his past too."

He nodded silently and then smirked up at his girlfriend. "Well then, it seems like we'll have to try to get him to remember it now, won't we?"

Dawn's face broke into a grin. "Well, we can always try doing things that reminds him of Leaf. Oh wait, then it'll be Leaf's job. She'll have to do that to get him to remember." Then she frowned. "She's never going to do it."

"What do you mean?"

"She wants him to be happy, not remembering the horrible memories she left with him when she walked out on him during his surgery. She's afraid that if he remembers, he'll hate her," she explained.

The prune head shrugged. "Then now, we'll just have to let her decide whether she wants to get his memory back or not. What we have to do would be to try to stall the wedding for as long as possible," he planned.

Dawn giggled. "Aw, Paul cares for his friends now. How sweet," she gushed.

He grunted in response whereas she giggled. Opposites really did attract, didn't they?

* * *

><p>"Hey, Ash, I was wondering if you wanted to visit Leaf with me next weekend. You can also see Gary while you're at it." The two were currently walking down the streets of Castelia enjoying each others' company.<p>

"I would love to, Mist, but I can't. I have something to do on Saturday."

She frowned. He had never rejected a day of going out with her. This was suspicious. "What are you planning?" she inquired.

"It's, uh, for our class. We're doing an activity and Duplica was going to help me plan it out." Then when he realized what he said, he quickly covered his mouth.

"Are you going out on a date with Duplica?" she asked dangerously.

Ash cowered back. "Of course not, Misty! I would never do anything to hurt you, you know that!" he reasoned, hoping not to get hurt with her mallet.

"Then what's all the secrecy all about, Ash Ketchum?"

The raven haired male shifted his gaze down at the ground. "We're just planning an activity for the class, that's all."

Misty didn't buy his excuse. She felt like she was being lied to, something she never expected from the man she loved. She wanted to scream it to his face that he was lying but it would cause a big scene and she did not want that. Hurt filled her heart as the thought of Ash and Duplica together filled her mind. She already felt small pieces of her heart slowly being cut by a knife. No, she couldn't cry in public. She had to get home, fast.

"I'm going to go home first," she said as she turned on her heel.

"I'll walk you back, Misty," Ash offered.

"No thanks," she spat coldly before making a mad sprint back to her house.

_I'm not going to get hurt again. Not this time._

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><p><strong>And chapter 5 is finished. I'm so tired, I hope you all appreciate it! So, uh, probably not one of my best chapters but it still came out pretty good so I'm happy for that. <strong>

**Oh, and I might not be updating next week due to the stacks of homework my teachers are suddenly assigning so don't look forward to an update from me next week, just a reminder. **

**I do not own the songs used in this chapter. None of them belong to me. But, if you can all guess what Leaf's and Gary's song in this chapter is then I'll hand out delicious chocolate chip cookies to those who get the answer! **

**Okay, to finish it off, review please! I really do love your reviews. It makes me smile and laugh when I read the hate you give to Megan and Gary shipping so please amuse me with your amazing reviews. Bye! **


	6. Questions and Plans

**Hey guys, I'm back for another chapter~ Okay, so I finally found the book I've been wanting to read, A Walk to Remember, so I may not update next week from reading it. Okay, now that that's settled, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR HELPING ME REACH OVER 100 REVIEWS! You all have no idea how happy I was to see that it was already past that much reviews so thank you all so much for helping me; I love you all so much. Oh and congrats to pikaluver1229 for being my 100****th**** reviewer! **

**Okay, since I didn't want to go back to search who got the songs; I'll just say the songs. It was Someone like You by Adele which some of you got and This I Promise You by Richard Marx but I would've accepted Ronan Keating or N-sync, which two people got. I just heard the Richard version so I didn't know about the other two…LOL. Okay, so cookies for those who guessed it right! NOW ON WITH THE STORY.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or places in any way. I just own Megan, Danny, Mandy and Elliott.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Six: Questions and Plans<strong>_

**Normal POV**

That following day, Mandy was up, bright awake, at the kitchen table enjoying her breakfast while Leaf was preparing her lunch for the afternoon when Gary came downstairs. The little brunette beamed up at him with her brightest smile. "Good morning Uncle Gary," she greeted cheerfully.

The auburn haired male chuckled. "Good morning to you, Mandy," he greeted. He then turned to the working brunette. "Good morning to you too, Ms. Green," he said jokingly.

She snapped from her train of thoughts and turned to him. "Good morning, Gary. You can just call me Leaf. Please, I prefer that."

He simply shrugged. "Okay, Leaf it is."

"Mommy, I'm going to be late for school!" Mandy exclaimed after seeing the time, catching Leaf's attention.

Leaf hastily grabbed the pink lunch box sitting on the counter next to her and handed it to Mandy before grabbing her shoes before helping the little girl slip it on. "I'm sorry," she apologized to Mandy and then turning to Gary. "I'm sorry for suddenly asking this but can you possibly help me watch the house while I take Mandy to school. You don't have the house key so you can't really leave with the house unlocked so can you please stay in till I get back?"

He nodded. "Sure, it's still pretty early for me go out anyway."

"Thanks; help yourself to anything you want. Okay Mandy, let's go now." She grabbed her daughter's hand they both left the house quickly.

Soon, the house was silent. Gary looked around the vacant house and chuckled at the half eaten bowl of cereal on the table. 'She's not even done with her breakfast and she already wants to go to school. This girl sure is something,' he thought to himself. He decided to help clean it up and once he did that, he made himself some cereal as well.

Just when he was about to wash the finished bowl, Danny barged into the house, catching Gary's attention. "Hey, Leaf- What are you doing here?" he spat when he saw Gary.

Gary looked the man with confusion written all over his face. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" he inquired.

Danny stared at him in disbelief. "Do _you _know me? Don't play d-"

"Danny." He heard from behind him. He turned around and saw the older brunette. "He doesn't remember anything," she said softly, hoping Gary wouldn't hear her.

"He doesn't?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, he only remembers the past six years of his life, nothing beyond that."

Danny then turned back to Gary who was still waiting for a reply. "We knew each other, but not so well," he answered back. Then he turned back to Leaf. "I'll just go now."

"Did you need something?"

"No, I just remembered I had to do something. I'll see you later." He started to head straight for the gate until Leaf spoke up.

"He's getting married soon," she said. "He's not the same Gary I once knew, he's different now, and I let him go." He saw her green eyes flicker with sadness.

He let out a bitter laugh. "Stop lying to yourself, Leaf. You still love him and you know it. It's obvious you don't want him to be married off with someone else," he stated.

Leaf just stared at him with wide eyes. "Can we just talk about this later? He's in there and I don't want him to hear any of this," she said quietly. "I'll see you later, Danny." And with that, she left inside the house where Gary just finished the dishes. "You didn't have to wash it; I was going to do that."

He chuckled lightly. "No, it's fine really. I'm the guest; I should be doing some of the house work since I'm eating your food and living under your roof. It's the least I can do."

Leaf sighed in defeat. Obviously convincing him wouldn't work so she nodded. "Okay then, um, are you going to leave soon? I have to go to work soon."

"Oh, right, sure I'm going to get dressed and be down soon." He quickly made his way to his room and picked out a pair of washed out blue jeans and a black polo before meeting Leaf downstairs who was playing the piano while she waited. "I'm ready," he announced, snapping her attention away from the white keys.

"Right, let's go now," she said while closing the top lid to the piano.

They both left the house together and Gary waited at the gate as Leaf locked the front door. When she approached the gate, she asked, "Shouldn't you get going to do your research?"

He shrugged. "Well since it's still kind of early, I decided to walk with you. It's nice to get to know more about a person, you know." The brunette wanted to retort back but he beat her to it. "I won't bite, don't worry," he said jokingly.

She bit her bottom lip hesitantly and nodded. "Okay, but it's not that interesting," she warned before taking off with him.

It turns out she had nothing to worry about at all. Leaf learned that he's been doing well with his career and that he has no idea of his past other than being a past player and many more. Gary, on the other hand, learned that Dawn and Misty were in the band Heartbeat with her and May. He also learned that her best instrument was the piano and that she was also from Pallet Town. There was still one question that lingered on his mind and he couldn't help but ask.

"What ever happened to Mandy's father?"

The brunette's eyes widened once she heard those words as her heart started to beat rapidly. What was she supposed to tell him? That _he _was the father? No, he'd probably laugh in her face and take it as a joke. "It's not your concern," she said. Luckily, they had just arrived at the sandwich shop so she took this as her chance to escape the hoards of questions just waiting to be asked. "Oh look, we're here, I have to go now. See you later." With that said, she left him outside and not soon after, he started to walk away to do his research.

* * *

><p>"Uh, Mom, who's the kid?" the green haired man asked when he entered his mother's house that afternoon.<p>

She looked up from playing with him to see her son. "This little boy is just a son of my worker. Since she's taking over the shift right now, I decided to help her watch her child. This is Elliott Maple. Elliott, this is my son, Drew Hayden."

The little boy waved his hand enthusiastically at him. "Hello there Mister!" he greeted.

Drew simply stared at the little boy. That boy shared the exact enthusiasm as May and his hair was exactly her shade of hair along with the last name, he noted. "Maple, as in May Maple?" he inquired turning to his mother.

Elliott crossed his arms across his chest. "Hey! I said hello, you should always say something back!" he huffed.

'And he's got her short temper,' he noted, chuckling to himself. "Hello there, Elliott, I'm Drew," he greeted before turning back to his mother. "Now is this child, May Maple's, Mom?"

"Yes, he is, why?"

"No reason," he replied. "So why did you want to see me today?"

"Oh, well, I picked up Elliott from school today and his teacher told me that they were holding a father and child day and since Elliott here doesn't have a father, I was wondering if you can do it," she explained, hoping her son would agree to it.

Drew took a minute to think this over. If he agreed, then there would be a chance that he would be able to see May again and confront her why she would leave him. He thought it was a pretty legit idea so he simply shrugged. "Sure, why not, when?"

"It's next week; you think you'll have time?"

Drew nodded. "Don't worry, I'll have time," he confirmed. "I'm going to go now." He made his way to his car and started to drive to the flower shop, hoping to find the sapphire eyed brunette there behind the counter or at least sorting the flowers.

When he got there, someone was locking up the door and he quickly got out of his car so he wouldn't miss his chance. 'This is it,' he thought before grabbing the woman's arm. "May," he gasped out.

The woman turned around and stared at him in confusion. "I'm sorry, but you must be looking for Map Maple. She just left to go pick up her son from our boss' house," she explained. Her eyes soon widened when she saw who it really was. "Oh my gosh, you're Drew Hayden! I love your music. Would you mind giving me an autograph?"

Drew obliged and quickly gave her his autograph before going back to his mother's house where a car just left with his mother standing at the door way. "Don't tell me May just left," he said once he got to his mother.

She had a small smile on his face. "I'm sorry, honey. I know how much you want to see her."

He flicked his hair. "At least I'll still see her next week at that father child thing, right Mom?"

She smiled. "Yeah, good luck okay? I'm hoping you two will reconcile soon."

"Thanks Mom."

* * *

><p>When Drew left, Mrs. Hayden went back into her house and picked up a flyer that said: <em>Parent and Child Day, please join us. <em>She smirked. "Good plan, Karen, finding a loophole to this. At this rate, they'll meet for sure and May will accept him again."

She then remembered she forgot to tell May about it and called her. "Hello, May? I don't know if Elliott told you about this yet but I've found someone who can fill in to be Elliott's parent for a Parent Child Day, so you won't have to do it since you're busy."

"**Are you sure? I mean I don't want Elliott to be with a complete stranger." **

"Don't worry about it. He's not busy and Elliott seems like he really likes him so everything will be fine, okay?"

It was quiet on the other line, almost as if she was hesitant to reply. **"Alright, thanks so much for helping, Mrs. Hayden."**

"No problem, May."

And then they hung up, a grin plastered on Karen's face. "This is going to be great," she told herself. Then suddenly a blocked number called her and she picked it up. "Hello?" she answered.

"**Karen? Is that you?"**

'That voice." A gasp escaped her lips when she heard that voice. It was the voice of the man she left years ago. "Steve?"

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><p><strong>Ugh, I'm so sorry this chapter came out short. Its just that I'm not trying to rush this so it would explain the slow events. I would make them meet again but it would be too fast for you guys so I left that out and everything so I'm sorry. <strong>

**If you're confused about Karen's plan, here it is: It's actually for either mother or father but she thought to make father so Drew would say yes. See what I did there? ;D**

**Uh, not much to say except to review! Some of you probably wouldn't review though huh? 'Cause it's all short and such. I'm still going to hope though that you guys will so please do! I love reading them because they make me smile and everything, so REVIEW! **


	7. Bonding Time

**Hey guys, guess who has two thumbs and is having one whole week off next week? This girl right here! Yes, I am on Thanksgiving break so that means one week off of school, yay! And that means more updates! So then, you guys remember Oak High School, right? Well, over the break, I will have a chapter up, promise!**

**Thank you all so much for reviewing last chapter! I'm so glad that you all like the fact that May and Drew are going to meet soon! And by soon, I mean really soon, so look forward to it!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I only own Megan, Danny, Mandy, Elliott and Drew's parents. **

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Seven: Bonding Time<strong>_

**Normal POV**

"Come on, Elliott! Tell Mommy who's going to be your parent for the event," May whined for the thousandth time already.

The little boy only smirked, exactly like Drew. "Nope, sorry Mommy, but Grandma Hayden told me to keep it as a secret."

May pouted and clapped her hands together in front of her chest. "Please, Elliott?"

He merely shook his head. "I cannot tell you," he stated.

The brunette frowned and straightened up. "Fine, don't tell Mommy then," she huffed before sticking her nose in the air.

Elliott, sensing that his mother was mad, stopped the smirk and embraced May's legs. "Are you mad, Mommy? Elliott promise to be good if you are not mad."

May grinned and picked her son up. "Mommy isn't mad at you…but, if you tell me who's filling in as your parent…"

"No, Grandma Hayden said it was a surprise for you."

The brunette raised an eyebrow at her five year old son, who clamped both his hands to his mouth. "What kind of surprise is it and why is it for me?" she inquired. He shook his head, indicating that he wasn't going to spill anything. "Come on Elliott; tell Mommy what Grandma Hayden told you."

He had somehow managed to squirm his way out of May's arms and landed on the floor of the house flawlessly, sticking his tongue out at her. "No, find out yourself." And with that, he started to run to his room while May just gaped at him before realizing what he had just done.

"ELLIOTT MAPLE!"

Then, she started to sprint off after him which wasn't so hard since he was still small so he didn't have that great of endurance yet. When she caught him, he was laughing free-spiritedly, making her laugh as well. "Elliott Maple, you will tell me who the man is this instant," she said in between giggles. It was hard demanding something when she was laughing.

"No, but the hint is that he knows you."

"What kind of hint is that?" she inquired, releasing her hold on the boy.

"A good hint," he retorted before running off to his room and shutting the door, laughing as he did so.

May smiled at the direction he just went and sighed in content. "He's just like Drew."

* * *

><p>Outside the small café of Lacunosa Town was placed with small tables fit for two to three people. Sitting at one of the tables was the source of the plan that's helping her son gain back the girl he loves. She took a sip of her coffee before placing it delicately down at the table. She took a glance at her watch and mumbled words under her breath.<p>

"Karen," a gruff voice called, catching her attention.

She drew her attention away from her watch and diverted it to the voice. Standing in front of her was the man she walked out on six years ago. He didn't change much except for some bags under his eyes and a few wrinkles here and there. His green hair had also lost its shine and was now pale and dull, along with his grass green eyes which were filled with remorse.

She narrowed her eyes straight at him. "Steve," she spat.

He took a seat right across from her, much to her dismay and started talking before she even opened her mouth. "Before you say anything, Karen, here me out. I made a big mistake six years ago and I know you probably haven't forgiven me yet-." Karen snorted. "But I'm here to apologize today." She was definitely caught off guard. She certainly did not expect him to say something like that so sudden, so she was pretty speechless. "I have time; just take your time on this."

"What about Peter, Brianna's father?" she asked.

Steve frowned. "What do you mean what about him? I broke off all connections with him. Karen, when you and Drew left the house, I immediately regretted what I did. I searched for you two everywhere and got nothing. Do you realize how glad I was when I found your whereabouts?"

"It still doesn't change what you did, Steve. I hear you, really, I do, but what you did was too much that time. I don't know if I can ever forgive you. I mean, you threatened to disown your own _son _and when he didn't want to obey you, you actually disowned him."

"That's why I regret it. When you left, Peter called me. He said he expected Drew and Brianna married and when I told him he left with you, he said he would pay me triple than what I already made if I convinced him to marry her. I was going to agree but I remembered what he told me; that he would always love May so I didn't agree with him. He was furious to say the least and spent the next two years trying to convince me, but I never budged. It was because I kept in mind what Drew told me." He looked up from the table and looked deep into her eyes. His eyes were full of regret.

"You said her name was May, you remember her name," she stated.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I remember her. I also feel bad about what I said about her. Truth to be told, I always did like her. That Drew has nice taste, doesn't he? It was the pressure of money that made me act like a jerk."

She cracked a small unnoticed smile and looked down at the table before looking back at him with her unwelcoming demeanor. "Well, don't you think you should be telling those two that instead of me?" He opened his mouth to speak but she continued. "It's going to take a lot more than apologies, Steve. You're going to have to do much more to prove that you're sorry."

He did nothing to fight back but simply shrugged. "I guess it's understandable, you're still mad and I don't blame you. Take your time, Karen. I just want you and Drew to know that I'm really sorry about what I did and I hope I'll be forgiven soon. I really miss you." Without another word, he stood up and left, leaving some money on the table.

She looked down and shook her head. "Idiot, why'd you pay when you didn't order anything? It was my drink, not yours," she murmured to herself. And with that, she stood up and left the café to go back to work at the flower shop.

* * *

><p>Gary was silently working on the kitchen table with his laptop, hoping to find some information on what he was researching about. Leaf was at work and the spiky haired male volunteered to help watching over Mandy. He figured he should be doing some work since he was staying and Mandy wasn't that much of a hassle so he thought why not.<p>

He was typing away on his laptop when the little girl ran up to him with a flyer in hand. She handed to the man who read over it with a bewildered look. "What is this for?"

"It's a parent and child event that's going to happen at my school. Mommy may not go because of work so I wanted to ask you. So you want to go as my parent?" she asked sweetly.

He gave her a sympathetic look. He felt bad for her since she grew up with no father figure and she seemed so helpless when she gave him her puppy dog eyes. It made him feel guilty. "I'm sorry, Mandy, but I'm not your father. Maybe your mom may not be busy on that day."

She gave up the puppy dog look and was now sad, staring down at the floor. Gary was going to ask if she as alright but she looked back up at him with a grin. "Its okay, Uncle Gary. I wanted to try and ask."

He smiled kindly at her and patted her back. "I really am sorry. Tell you what. What about I play with you to make it up? What do you think?"

The grin was on her face again as she dragged Gary towards the living room with her. She had multiple toys spread out around the area with a few coloring books on the table with some crayons. "What should we play first?"

He saw a toy guitar lying around and picked it up. "You want to learn how to play the guitar?"

She nodded. "Yeah, Mommy plays it a lot and she is really good!" She grinned as she went on about Leaf's playing. "When I was little, Mommy use to play it all the time when Mandy couldn't sleep. Mandy wants to be just like Mommy when she grows up."

Gary found it funny how the little girl would sometimes talk in a different point of view but it was understandable because she was only five years old. He decided to let it slide and just continued spending time with the little girl. They were having so much fun that they completely forgot about the time and when Leaf came home, they didn't even notice her. "Having fun, you two?" she asked.

Mandy grinned and made a mad sprint to her mother's arms. "Mommy; you're back!"

Leaf giggled. "Hello to you too, Mandy. How was your day with Uncle Gary today?"

"We had lots of fun!" she exclaimed, spreading her arms wide. "We played lots of games and Uncle Gary says that he can teach Mandy how to play the guitar one day."

Leaf smiled fondly down at her daughter before putting her down on the floor. "Okay, it's time for your shower, lets go." She turned to Gary. "You'll have to wait a while before the food is cooked, is that fine?"

He nodded. "Yeah, don't sweat it. I'll just finish some parts of my report."

And with that, the two adults split up to do their separate work.

* * *

><p>While Leaf was helping Mandy with her shower, Gary was finishing up some parts of his report for the research. Then he got a video chat invite from Megan and accepted it. A box popped up with a picture of her and he smiled at her. "Hey there, Beautiful," he greeted.<p>

She couldn't help but smile back at him. "How's Village Bridge? Are the food there good enough for you to eat?"

He chuckled lightly at her question. "I'm not that much of a picky eater, you know? I just don't like tomatoes. And yeah, the food here is great. The people are nice too. You should visit here sometimes, it's a beautiful place, especially the famous bridge," he commented.

She shrugged. "I wish I could come, but being a doctor isn't easy. There are always patients coming in. I don't know, maybe we can visit it during our honeymoon. You've been taking care of yourself, right?" she inquired.

"I am, stop worrying so much. And just in case you ask, yes, I have been taking my medicine too."

She sighed in content, smiling. "That's good, I'm glad you're taking care of yourself. So, how's the place you're staying in? Fancy enough for you?"

He chuckled. "It's a nice house. Small, but very cozy, I'll admit that. The lady I'm staying with is pretty strange." He noticed the confused look she had and decided to explain more. "She acted so strange to me, like she didn't like me. Then she acts nice and then distant. I don't know, she's just weird, but she has a daughter. That daughter of hers, she's cute." He smiled at the thought of that afternoon he spent with her.

"Uh oh, you're smiling at the thought of another girl. Should I be jealous?"

He chuckled again and shook his head. "No, she's just a little girl, don't worry about it. But," he placed his arm on the desk and placed his chin on the palm of his hand, "she is interesting though." The thought of her ginning face flashed into his mind again and he smiled again.

* * *

><p>That night, after dinner and after Mandy was asleep, Gary was outside the house walking around the big yard, taking in the fresh air when Leaf joined him. She stood at the steps while he walked towards her.<p>

"Thanks for watching Mandy today."

"Like I said today, no problem. Besides, she wasn't any trouble, she was perfectly fine."

She smiled. "That's good. She didn't distract you over your work, did she? She tends to get people off track sometimes," she said jokingly.

He chuckled. "It was okay, she was good. You raised a well-behaved child, Green."

He looked at Leaf and the brunette looked back at him and their eyes met. They both felt sparks flow through them and immediately looked away.

"Oh, and you look nice when you smile." She looked down as he chuckled lowly to himself before continuing, "I have a feeling that you're uncomfortable around strangers but after these past few days of staying together, do you think we can be friends?" He held his hand out for her to shake.

She looked almost hesitant to do anything and stared at him. After a few seconds, she slowly grasped onto his hand and they shook. Leaf had a small smile on her face while Gary had a wide smile before they released their hands. She looked at him, who was just staring at the giant yard and remembered his question from the other day. Although she didn't want to, she sighed and decided on her answer.

"He's gone," she said.

He turned his attention back to her. "Excuse me?"

She quickly looked down at the floor. "You asked what happened to Mandy's father right?" She took a step down and walked a few feet from him, her back facing him. "He's gone," she repeated. "We no longer mean anything to him. If we were to bump into each other on the streets one day, it would be as if we were strangers."

"I'm sorry about that," he remarked.

Leaf took in some deep breaths and put on her best small smile before turning to him. "It's alright. At least I know that during these past few years he's been doing well and it's enough for me."

He looked at the ground before looking at her, jaws clenched and took a deep breath. "Do you hate him?" he finally asked.

She shook her head. "No," she answered. She started to walk around the yard. "We were once very blessed, actually, really happy, and most importantly, in love. From first meeting him at childhood to falling in love with him, I've never regretted it once." He smiled at that. "The reason why we went our separate ways was because we didn't have a choice at that time. But, the decision was best for of us." Leaf then started to smile sadly. "Later on, I learned that his life without me and Mandy was better because we wouldn't tie him down. He was able to live his life freely.

"Besides, I was able to find my own happiness here. And I hope that he can find his as well." Tears started to flow in her eyes. "Those are my final blessings for him, because I know that without me, his life would be better and he would be happier with no pain. The same goes for me." Gary's eyebrows furrowed together as he tried keeping track of the story. "Actually," Leaf turned around and faced him, "I've always wanted to thank him personally." She looked straight at him. "I want to tell him, thank you. Thank you for giving me Mandy. This child has been the best present I have ever received in my whole life." Gary smiled at her and a few tears rolled down her cheeks before she wiped them off. It was then quiet between the two and Leaf smiled fondly at Gary one last time before heading back inside.

"We should go back inside, it's getting late," she suggested as she tried to keep her voice even.

The two headed inside and Leaf locked the door before heading to turn the kitchen lights off until Gary stopped her. "I got it," he offered. "You should go to bed since you have to get Mandy to school early."

She smiled at him and something flashed in his mind. _A little brunette girl, who looked like she just cried, smiled at the spiky haired kid. _Gary shook his head.

"Good night," Leaf said before heading off to her room, leaving Gary there alone.

He snapped from his train of thoughts and proceeded to turn the lights off before heading off to his own respective room.

_What was that just now?_

* * *

><p><strong>And this chapter is finished! So it was longer than the previous one, yay! But, I don't know, did you guys like it? I feel like I forgot something. If you guys know what it happens to be, feel free to leave it with your reviews! <strong>

**A little flashback gift for you guys. ;D**

**Again, I will be updating**/ **uploading throughout the week so watch out for my stories! :D **

**REVIEW PLEASE! Did I ever mention how much I love reading some of your long ass reviews? Why? Because it's always filled with happy responses and I can't help but smile at it. Sooo, if you want me to smile, then you should, like, leave long reviews. Just a suggestion, ;3 But please do review!**


	8. Confrontations and Meetings

**Hello guys and welcome to another chapter of Remember the Past. Thank you all so much for reviewing last chapter with your long reviews; I didn't think anyone would do it but you proved me wrong. Oh, and thank you all too for telling me what I was missing last chapter. I was actually going to add the two shipping but I got lazy, LOL. So…over my two extra days of break, no school because of emergency weather, I planned this chapter out. I hope you'll enjoy it, so here goes!**

**OH AND THIS IS FOR ALL YOU WHO ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO MAY AND DREW MEETING!**

**Disclaimer: I do own the characters in any way except for Mandy, Elliott, Danny and Megan.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Eight: Confrontations and Meetings<strong>_

**Normal POV**

"Hey Dawn, do you have a moment?" Misty asked as she saw Dawn walk pass the hallway. Since Leaf and May left, only the two stayed in the large house.

The bluenette stopped on her heels at the sound of Misty's tone. "Sure, what wrong, Mist?"

Dawn waited for her friend to walk over to her. "You're going over to see Paul, right?" she inquired. Dawn nodded. "Do you think you can ask him if Ash is seeing someone else by any chance?"

The bluenette's cobalt eyes softened as she gave the sea green eyed girl a hug. "Misty, Ash would never cheat on you. He's not that type of guy and even if he did try to do that, then he would have to feel the wrath of Heartbeat." She giggled lightly at the last statement.

Misty smiled as she released Dawn from the hug. "Thanks for the comment Dawn. But can you please ask Paul?"

The bluenette nodded. "Alright, Misty, I'll ask him when I see him today, alright? Now, I really have to go. My supervisors are stopping by the studio today and they're checking my designs for the next fashion show." She grabbed her car keys and started to head for the door. "Bye Mist!" she called before slamming the door after she walked out.

Once Dawn was out the door, Misty sighed and looked at the clock before her eyes widened. "Oh shit, I'm going to be late for work!" she cried before grabbing her folders and bags before heading out the door.

* * *

><p>The whole day when Misty was at school, she had avoided Ash in every way possible. Whenever he tried to approach her, she would start a conversation with another staff member or she would swiftly walk away towards the classroom, where her students were waiting for her. Of course, seeing Duplica didn't make it any better either so when she entered Misty's class while she was teaching a lesson, Misty had a fight back a scowl that threatened to cross her face. Duplica handed Misty a note and left. Misty placed it on her desk and resumed with her class until break time came along. While all the kids were out playing, she read the note. <em>Mist, meet me in my classroom at break. I have to show you something. –Ash<em>

Misty debated with herself whether or not she should go or not. After careful consideration, she realized that Ash would never really hurt her by surprising her so she decided to go.

She walked the hallways and greeted other staff members on her way to Ash's room. They knew about the two dating, yes, but they had no idea of the two going through some problems. Once Misty got to the classroom, she glanced in the through the window at the door, just to make sure the raven haired male was in there, but was completely caught of guard when she saw him dancing with her, laughing with her. 'What the hell?' she thought.

Involuntarily, Misty had already reached for the handle of the door and she couldn't stop herself from opening the door. When that was done, she walked up to the two, who had already stopped when they saw her, and stood before them, arms crossed. "Ash, explain why you wanted to see me. And I only want to hear an answer from Ash," she demanded, adding the last part in when she saw Duplica open her mouth to answer. When Ash didn't say anything, she raised her eyebrows at him. "Well, Ash, an answer soon would be nice."

"Mist," he started. "I can't really tell you."

Hurt flashed through her eyes but Misty quickly masked it away with anger. "What do you mean you can't tell me Ash? I thought we told each other everything, why can't you tell me this time?" she interrogated. "Is it because you didn't want to hurt me? Well I won't be hurt, do you know why? Because I'm not weak anymore, I'm not going to cry over it like before. So why can't you just tell me? Look, if you plan to break up with me, then just do it already because I'm tired of wondering what you've been up to."

His eyes widened from the last comment. "No, Mist, I would never break up with you, you know that."

"Then why won't you tell me what's wrong?" she cried. "I can't handle not knowing why you always have to suddenly leave without an explanation. You never tell me what you're up to and it hurts when I think you're cheating on me!" Misty stopped for a moment and breathed in and out for a couple of seconds before straightening herself up. "Maybe we need a break from each other," she finally said.

"Huh?" Ash couldn't help but just say that. It was the only thing that he was able to muster up after hearing those words come out from her mouth.

"What? You don't understand English? I'm breaking up with you, Ash. I don't want to be hurt like last time, so I'm leaving first this time." A sad smile crossed her lips. "Goodbye, Ash."

And with that, she walked out of the classroom.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Paul, is Ash seeing another girl by any chance?" Dawn asked that afternoon she was spending with him. She was currently at the house he shared with the other guys and he was making them something to eat.<p>

"How should I know," he grunted. "I'm not really interested in the idiot's love life." By now, he was already done making their snack and placed it in front of the bluenette before taking a seat in front of her.

She frowned and crossed her arms. "I'm asking you because you're his friend, Paul! How can you say something like that?"

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was clearly having a bad already and he definitely wasn't looking forward to having an argument with his girlfriend. "Troublesome, it's none of my business, so don't ask me about it."

"I don't care. You should know something, at least. Like does he ever go out without an explanation and it wasn't with Misty?"

"Like I said, I don't know, Troublesome. If you wanted to know so badly then why don't you just ask yourself?" he snapped.

The frown was still on her face as she simply stared right at him. "Fine," she started, "maybe I will go ask him. Bye, Paul."

She got up from her seat and started her way towards the kitchen entrance before grabbing her stuff. The plum haired man couldn't help but sigh. "Troublesome," he called. She stopped on her tracks and turned sideways at him while he made his way to her. Once he got to her, he gently wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm sorry," he murmured into her ear. "I'm just having a bad day today."

She let out a content sigh and turned around to face him fully. "Then I forgive you." She started to drag her boyfriend back to the kitchen so they could enjoy his food.

"So why do you want to know so badly?" he asked.

"Misty really wants to know. She asked me to ask you since you guys live together and such. You see, lately, Ash has been acting weird, like he always has to meet someone and whenever she asked why he would leave so suddenly, he would say he can't tell her so maybe you guys have somewhat of an idea, you know?" she explained.

He looked at how depressed she looked and let out a small side of frustration. Why must there be so many problems between their friends? "Okay, I'll try to help your friend."

A happy smile filled Dawn's lips as she cheered inwardly to herself since she didn't want to irritate Paul. "Thank you, Paul."

Unknowingly to him, a small smile had crossed his lips as well as he grabbed her hand that rested on the middle of the table. "What would you do without me, Troublesome?"

A light giggle escaped her lips. "Oh shut up Paul, you know you love me." He chuckled at the comment.

That afternoon, the two spent the time to talk about what was going on between their friends and Paul went through having to listen to Dawn's crazy schemes on what they were doing to have them rekindle.

"So then for Drew and May, I was hoping to set them up on a blind date and they can't leave the date until it's over. But knowing May, she would leave anyway so we have to blackmail her to do it." She snapped her fingers. "I know, what about 'kidnapping' Elliott and we can be like, go out with Drew and we'll give back your son! Yeah that sounds like a good idea!" she planned.

Paul simply chuckled and shook his head. "You're unbelievable, Troublesome."

* * *

><p>It was now the day of the Parent Child event and Leaf was currently getting dressed while Mandy and Gary were eating their breakfast. "Uncle Gary," Mandy called, catching his attention. "Are you sure you can't fill in as my father?" she asked.<p>

By now, Leaf was already done with getting dressed and was going to get Mandy to get changed. When she heard Mandy ask him the question, and decided to hear what he would say. She knew that eavesdropping was wrong but she couldn't help but do so.

Gary gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Mandy, but I'm not your dad. I can't fill in, that won't be fair to other people. Besides, you have your mother right?"

Although Mandy's back was facing Leaf, the brunette could tell her daughter was already disappointed due to the fact that that Gary couldn't fill in because he wasn't her father. This made her stomach drop. He was her father though; it's just that neither of them knew it. "Yeah, but Mommy looks tired lately and Mandy did not want Mommy to be very tired. And, Elliott even told me a man was going to fill in for his dad for today!" Leaf raised an eyebrow. 'Why didn't May tell me?'

Gary smiled sadly at her and tousled her locks. "I'm sorry, kiddo, maybe next time, okay?"

She nodded slowly before going back to her breakfast and Gary did that same thing as well. Leaf decided to finally straighten herself up and look like she was just finished getting dressed and walked through the small entrance into the kitchen where the two sat eating. "Mandy," she called. "I laid your clothes out for you for today so go get dressed and we'll leave as soon as you're done, okay?" she smiled down at her daughter.

The little brunette nodded and got off her seat before running upstairs to get changed from her pajamas. Leaf grabbed a bowl and filled it up with cereal before adding the milk and taking a seat across from Gary. "So Mandy wants you to fill in, huh?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she really does. I don't see what's wrong with having you go with her but she was kind of right you looking tired. You look like you didn't get enough sleep yesterday."

"No, I'm fine." She decided to change the subject. "But I understand why Mandy wants you to fill in. If you haven't noticed already, she grew up without a father figure. I know you can say Danny can fill in, but Mandy just doesn't see him as a father figure. She only see's him as a family friend. I don't know why she would just grow attach to you all of a sudden, honestly." She looked up at him with sad eyes. "I'm sorry for asking you this, but can you please reconsider about filling in? Mandy haven't really grown attach to someone like this before and I don't want her to be devastated, so could you please rethink this, please?"

Of course Leaf knew Mandy was only acting this way because the little girl probably feels protected with him and because she thought he was her father, which he actually was so when she was saying how she didn't know why Mandy would grow attach to him, she felt guilty for saying something like that when she knew the truth behind everything. When she saw Gary still thinking about his answer, she thought about something that would make him say yes for sure.

"I've never seen her so happy before. It's like every time you play with her, it's a different happiness than when she's with Danny. She likes spending time with you." It wasn't a lie, Leaf thought. It was true. She had noted the many times the two played together and every time, Mandy would always be laughing in pure happiness.

Gary immediately felt a bit of guilt. The girl practically enjoyed his company and just wanted to spend more time with him. Of course he knew that if he grew closer to her then it would be harder to leave later on when he was done with his job. But, if he said no then he would have to go through his life remembering the disappointed look on her face. And he did not like seeing that look on her face. He sighed. He made up his mind.

"Alright, I'll fill in for her parent." He smiled at Leaf who grinned. "But don't tell her. I want to surprise her to see her reaction."

Leaf smirked. "Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing. Okay, I'll take her and tell her that I have to attend work. Then when she's looking in her most distressed moment, you pop up and offer to fill in. What do you think?"

Gary smirked as well upon hearing the plan. "You, Leaf Green, have a devious mind."

"I try my best."

Then something else ran through his mind. _"You're evil," a boy, around ten, commented. _

_A little girl, about the same age, smirked. "Thanks, I try to be."_

Gary shook his head to get the image out of his head, catching the brunette's attention. "Are you okay?" she asked in a concern tone.

"No, I was just shaking my mind clear, that's all."

"Okay, whatever you say." Just when she said those words, Mandy came running down the stairs dressed in a pair of shorts that reached her knees with a white shirt filled with some pink floral patterns on it.

"I'm ready, Mommy," she cried happily.

Leaf stood up and placed her finished bowl, along with Mandy's, into the sink. She sneaked a wink at Gary and helped Mandy slip on her white shoes before heading out the door. Oh was the little girl in for a surprise.

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><p>"Mandy, something came up and Mommy has to go to work today so I can't play with you for the event."<p>

The little brunette's smile dropped. "But Mandy really wants to play!" she cried, tears ready to spill from her eyes.

They were already at the large area around the river and almost everyone was there. Chairs were set up for people who wanted to watch while parents and their child were preparing for the upcoming games. May and Elliott were no where in sight so she figured they woke up late and were probably rushing over to the park as of right now.

She bent down to Mandy's level and placed her hand on the little girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Mandy." From the corner of her eyes, she saw Gary approached them and secretly smirked. When Gary reached them, her acting skills came into action. "Gary, something came up and I can't participate with Mandy for the event. Do you think you can fill in?"

"Isn't it against the rules?" he asked innocently.

She shook her head. "Nope, as long as there's a legitimate excuse, its okay to have someone fill in, parent or not."

Mandy flashed him a grin and gave him her mastered puppy dog eyes. "Please Uncle Gary?"

Even if he didn't promise Leaf he would fill in the puppy dog eyes would've got him to do it anyway. "Yeah, sure, I'll fill in."

She cheered and Leaf took it as a sign to leave so she did. On her way to the farther chairs, she bumped into May. "May, where's Elliott? The event's starting soon."

"I don't know where he is! I left him with Mrs. Hayden and when I got to work, it turns out I actually have a day off and when I went to look for her, she wasn't home so I came here but I have no luck right now." She sighed and was about to look for her son again when she bumped into Mrs. Hayden. "Mrs. Hayden, do you know where Elliott is?" she inquired.

The woman simply smiled. "Don't worry, May, he's with his filled in father."

"But I'm off today, I can fill in," she said.

"Oh come on, May, let Elliott participate with him. He seemed really excited anyway," Mrs. Hayden argued.

"Yeah, c'mon May, let's have a seat. The game's starting soon."

"Wait, who's filling in for Mandy?"

Leaf smirked. "I'll explain it all afterwards."

* * *

><p>Soon, the game had begun and the three women took a seat together. The teacherhost introduced herself and the games that were going to be played with the participants lined up behind her. May immediately spotted Elliott but when she saw who her replacement was made a small gasp escape from her lips. 'That green hair, it couldn't be…' she thought to herself.

Karen, seeing this from the corner of her eye, inwardly smirked to herself. 'It's working so far…'

And so the games began. Gary and Mandy had won the Three-legged race with Drew and Elliott coming in second. Another game they played was a trust game. The adult was blindfolded while the child was on their back, guiding them to the finish line, avoiding all the obstacles. It took a while but the game was finished in fifteen minutes. The event went on and when the last game came up, the judges took the two teams with the highest score and they had to play a good old game of Tug-a-War. The crowd cheered as the town's two precious children showed up. Elliott and Mandy were the two with the highest score and Drew and Gary smirked at each other.

They grabbed the rope on their respective sides and soon the game started. The crowd cheered wildly as the two teams stayed in place, neither wanting to give up soon. Of course though, since Mandy was a girl, she grew tired and Drew took advantage of it by pulling the rope hard when he had the chance, making him and Elliott win.

The crowd broke in an ear shattering applause and everyone lined up behind the host. "Congratulations to Elliott Maple and Drew Hayden. They won the event with Mandy Green and Gary Oak coming up as runner up!"

The two teams walked up and trophies were handed to them. When the host said some other things, everyone soon dispersed and Leaf went to greet Mandy and Gary while May went to her son and Drew, Mrs. Hayden nowhere in sight.

When the little boy spotted her, he quickly ran up to her arms and she gave him a hug. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it today," she apologized.

He gave her a cheeky grin. "Its okay, Mommy! Elliott had fun with Drew!"

May still unaware of Drew's presence smiled down at her son. "I'll make it up to you, okay?"

Drew just stood there, staring at the brunette. He noted that her hair had grown longer and that her blue sapphire eyes still shined brightly. He missed her smile and when he saw it just now, he held his breath. Before he knew it, he felt nervous. "May?"

She looked up from her son upon hearing her name and when she looked up, she felt as if her breathing stopped. Emerald met sapphire and even with Elliott in between them, she felt the sparks. "Drew."

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><p><strong>And that was chapter 8! How did you like it? :D I would be longer but it's late as hell right now and I still need to sleep so I'm just going to leave it like this, okay? <strong>

**Was this chapter good, bad, okay? LEAVE IT IN THE REVIEWS! Like last chapter, I like long reviews so it would be nice to read some! (:**

**ALRIGHT, QUESTIONS!**

**What do you think is going to happen with May and Drew? **

**Why was Ash dancing with Duplica in the first place? **

**What's Ash going to do to have them make up?**

**WHY AM I ASKING WHEN ALL THE ANSWERS ARE IN MY NOTEBOOK? **


	9. Back to Square One

**So I think you guys should be glad that I'm updating this ONE week after I updated the last one. The reason is only because I didn't feel like updating my other stories. Anyway, THANK YOU GUYS ALL SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING LAST CHAPTER! I just noticed that I'm 21 reviews away from reaching 200 so thank you all. **

**Speaking of reviews, I see that you guys put Ash danced with Duplica because he didn't know how. Well…you WERE all right BUT, I came up with something else so…now you guys would have to wait to see why he was really dancing with her! Now, shall we get going to start this new chapter? I reckon so! LOL, I got that from A Walk to Remember. I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO YOU GUYS WHO LIKES TO READ ROMANCE! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I only own Mandy, Elliott, Danny, Karen, Steve and Megan.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Nine: Back to Square One<strong>_

**Drew's POV**

There she was. The woman I love was standing right in front of me. Her chestnut hair grew and her eyes were the same shining jewels of sapphires. She was beautiful; even after six years, she was still the same woman I fell for. Involuntarily, I spoke her name as she was talking to Elliott, her son. When she said my name, I felt my breathing had stopped and our eyes connected.

"May," I repeated.

Her eyes widened slightly but before she was about to say anything, Mom showed up and volunteered to take Elliott out to celebrate his win. "Are you sure, Mrs. Hayden?" May asked to make sure it was okay. It was painfully obvious she was trying to avoid talking to me.

Mom simply waved her off and dragged Elliott off with her after bidding her goodbyes to us. May was staring down at the ground and I suddenly felt nervous to say something. "I-I'm busy today, I have to…go," she stuttered, trying to get away from me.

No, this isn't happening again. I went through six _painful _years without her and I'm not going to let her go when I had a chance to stop her. When she turned her back, ready to make a run for it, I held her wrist firmly. "May, before you leave, I need to ask you just one question." She stayed quiet so I took the chance to ask the question that's been haunting my thoughts everyday. "Why did you leave me back then?"

Just as the question left my mouth, she started to struggle from my grip, which didn't do her any good. A small smirk made its way to my face. "There's no point trying to run away, May." I missed taunting her.

She huffed and stopped and I repeated my question. "Why did you leave me, May?"

It was quiet for a while and she continued to study to ground. "…It's complicated, Drew."

I felt a frown form on my face. She was still as stubborn as ever. "What do you mean it's complicated? All I need is a simple answer to why you left me right when we got back together. Can't you just tell me why you left so suddenly?" Suddenly, I remembered the little boy she called her son. "Was it because you had someone waiting on you already? Is that guy Elliott's father?"

Her eyes were now wide full of shock which was soon replaced by anger. "I don't think it's any of your business, _Drew_," she spat harshly. "I don't have to tell you anything. You don't own me, you know?"

I flinched slightly at the tone of her voice. Never in my life had she ever used that tone on me before. This wasn't the May I knew and loved. Fine, if harsh was what she wanted then I'll play it her way. Before she knew it, I started dragging her away from the river and made my way to the famous sandwich shop. We took a seat on one of the outside tables and even there, I held onto her wrist firmly.

"I'm not letting you go until you tell me the truth," I reminded her, much to her displeasure.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" she finally asked in a mere whisper.

I felt my look soften as I heard her calm voice. "You just left so suddenly, May. When I found out from the girls you moved, I couldn't believe it." Then a sudden realization hit me. "My mom, Dawn and Misty knew that you were here, but they didn't tell me." I felt slight anger rise as I remembered all those times they lied to me about not knowing where she was.

"No, it's not their fault, Drew! _I _begged them not to tell you the truth."

I think my heart was just struck by an arrow. "Why?" was the only question I could utter.

She suddenly started to focus on the table and silence fell between us. "…If you knew where I was, you would've came looking for me. I didn't want you to look for me, Drew."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Was it because you didn't want me to meet Elliott's father?"

She glared daggers at me. That was rare. "NO, it wasn't because I didn't want you to meet his father! I never got with any other guy." I noted that her voice was slowly rising.

"Then what was the reason? You loved me, I know you did. May, please, why did you leave me six years ago?" I was practically begging for the answer now. Why couldn't she just tell me the reason why she left?

She bit her bottom lip and pursed them together before looking up at me. Her eyes were apologetic. "…I'm sorry, Drew. I can't tell you. I just can't tell you."

"Why can't you, May? All I need is a simple answer. Was it because you had some other guy waiting for you already?"

She shook her head. "Stop saying that, Drew! No guy was waiting on me! Elliott is _your _son!" She immediately clamped her hands over her mouth and her eyes widened right when the words left her mouth and I'm pretty sure my expression reflected hers.

Elliott, the boy I was pretending to be a father for, was _mine and May's son. Our son._ Then when I remembered what we were talking about again, I felt angry. "Why did you keep that from me? Do you know that I can fight for his custody?"

Her brows furrowed together and she searched my eyes, practically telling me that she was sorry with them. "Drew, I was only seventeen back then. If I told you I was pregnant with your child, you would've proposed and I didn't want you to do anything like that." Tears started to form in her eyes. "I didn't know how to face you or my parents, Drew. That's why when Leaf was leaving, I asked to go with her and begged the others not to tell you. Please, don't take Elliott away from me. I love him, Drew." By now, she was sobbing and I felt guilty. She was crying because of me.

My grip on her wrist slowly loosened and she noticed. She looked up at me with tears glistening in her eyes, curious of why I released my grip. "Do you think we can ever be how we were years ago?" I inquired.

She sighed and shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Elliott grew up without a dad and it's not easy telling a five year old that his mother walked out on his father because she was afraid to face him. He's too young to understand all this."

"Can we try to be what we were before?"

May heard the sincerity in my voice, and I hoped she knew I really wanted to be with her again. Her eyes bored into mine as she searched for any lies. A small, beautiful smile graced her lips. "We can try. But, we need to somehow explain the situation to Elliott. How do you suggest we do that?"

I smirked. Typical May; it was a no brainer that she would ask such a simple question. "Move in with me at one of my houses. We'll tell him once he's there."

* * *

><p><strong>Normal POV<strong>

"You saw him doing _what?_" Dawn gasped.

Misty had decided to leave early after seeing Ash, having the school find a substitute for the class. She went straight home and called Dawn to immediately get back to their house and so the bluenette did just that.

"I know it can mean anything, but I was just upset. I mean, he's been hiding things from me and I just couldn't help but think he was cheating on me." Misty sighed as she grabbed another tissue to wipe her tear stained face.

Dawn, feeling sympathy for her friend, pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back, trying to console her. "Its okay, Misty. I'm sure Ash had a perfectly good reason why he was dancing with Duplica. For all we know, he could've been learning to dance for you."

She shook her head. "No, Dawn, I taught him a few moves before so he doesn't need to learn how to dance. Something at the back of my mind is telling me that Duplica isn't the person everyone thinks she is but that's just assuming things."

"Let him explain, Misty," Dawn finally said. The orange haired woman looked up at the bluenette. "If you want to really know what happened then you have to let him explain. I know it's not going to be easy for you to sit through it but I think you can let him explain _without _hurting him." She eyed Misty suspiciously who had a mallet behind her back.

She sighed. "…I don't know if I can handle it, Dawn. I'm scared that he might actually want to break up with me after today's events."

The bluenette smiled sadly at her friend and then got an idea. She got off Misty's bed and headed for her desk. After a few minutes of rummaging through her desk, she went back to Misty with a notebook and pencil in hand and handed them to Misty. "Then why don't you do what we did best and write your feelings out. That'll make you feel so much better."

Misty smiled as she got the accepted the notebook gratefully. "I have the perfect line thought out already. '_In another life, I would be your girl. We keep all these promises, the us against world. In another life, I would make you stay. So I don't have to say you were the one that got away. The one that got away.'_ What do you think, Dawn?"

The bluenette gave her two thumbs up and winked at her. "It was great, Mist. Continue writing because we've been nominated by the Teen Choice Awards for best all-time pop band. The awards night is next week and I still have to tell May and Leaf." She giggled. "They are going to be so surprised when they find out we've been nominated. Oh yeah, and we've been asked to play a few songs and I was thinking that we can write a few new songs and play those along with some of our older songs."

Misty let the new information sink in and nodded in agreement. "I agree with that, Dawn. But maybe we shouldn't write too many new songs. It has been a while since we last touched our instruments, you know."

Dawn giggled sheepishly. "Oh, right, but I figured it wouldn't take us that long to learn how to play again. I mean, we were the number one pop band group six years ago," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "And come on, it'll be so fun writing songs again!" she exclaimed happily.

Misty couldn't help but giggle at the bluenette. One thing she loved about Dawn was that she would always be optimistic during any situation. She could always cheer the saddest people up, no matter what and that was the second thing that she loved about Dawn.

Misty smiled and shook her head. "Okay Dawn, let's not get carried away with the songs. We have to see how May and Leaf are going to react to this whole thing first."

"I'll call them!" the bluenette announced before rushing out of the room to inform the other girls about being nominated, leaving Misty to stay in her room by herself to work on her song. Her song writing session was interrupted when her phone rang and she picked it up, too distracted with her song to look at the caller I.D. "Hello," she said mindlessly.

"Mist, is that you? Please, let me explain everything that happened today."

Misty thought back to what Dawn had said some time ago and took a deep breath. "Okay Ash, I'll meet you at the coffee shop in half an hour."

* * *

><p>"Whoa, you're not kidding Dawn? We're actually nominated after this long?" Leaf was in her living room watching Mandy and Gary play soccer outside the yard until Dawn called to inform her on the upcoming award. "Alright, thanks for telling me about it, bye."<p>

They hung up and Leaf let out a loud sigh before placing her phone on the coffee table. Mandy and Gary walked in and heard her sigh. "Are you okay, Mommy?" Mandy inquired.

The brunette smiled down at her daughter. "Mommy's fine, Mandy. Are you hungry now?"

The little girl nodded and Gary let out a low chuckle, catching Leaf's attention. "She said she couldn't continue to play soccer until she ate something so we decided to take a break." Leaf giggled lightly and started to head for the kitchen. "I can help you," he offered.

Leaf didn't say anything and allowed him to help her make something. "So why the loud sigh earlier?" he inquired.

"Dawn just called me and told me about something I have to attend to. The problem though, no one can watch Mandy for me." She looked over at the little girl who was currently coloring in her book at the dinner table. "Maybe Danny can watch over her…" she suggested to herself.

"I can do it," Gary offered.

Leaf diverted her attention to him, wide eyed. "Are you sure? I don't want to bother you or anything. I can really just find someone else to help me watch over Mandy." Leaf didn't want him and Mandy growing too close because if they did grow closer, then she would have a hard time when he's done with his research.

He smiled and gave her a thumb up. "Don't worry about it, Leaf. We're friends, remember? And friends help friends when they're in need, so let me watch her. I assure you, it's no problem whatsoever."

The brunette pursed her lips together and thought about it. Gary did say he could do it and she couldn't just reject his offer like that. "Okay, I'll give you her schedule on that day then. It's next week so you can change your mind over the week if you want."

He chuckled. "I'm not changing my mind," he reminded.

Leaf shrugged. "Fine, it'll be your own funeral."

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><p><strong>Probably not one of my favorite chapters, probably going to be re-written next week or so. Sorry it wasn't so good. But I'm kind of stressed right now. I still have tons of homework to do and I have a math AND chem quiz on Monday and a report due next week which I'm planning to finish by tomorrow so it would explain the crappiness of this chapter. <strong>

**Ugh, I hate how I made Drew here. It was so OOC, but you guys can manage right? I'M REALLY SORRY. PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! :c**

**OH, and the title was soo hard to come up with and I came up with thsi because it means starting at the beginning again and since May and Drew are trying to make up, I got that! I DO NOT OWN KATY PERRY'S SONG! It was supposed to be used to Oldrival but it fitted Poke so I just used it! ^_^**

**Anyway, review please! I would love to see what you thought of this chapter. Now, I have to go watch some Durarara. LOL. WATCH IT, IT'S REALLY GOOD AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW, BYEE. c:**


	10. Night of the Awards

**I'm so sorry I haven't been updating! It's just that NBA is back on and I'm so excited to see Lakers play this year and see if they make it to playoffs because they only have like three, at least I think it's three, veterans left in that team the rest are new so it's going to be exciting to see. 2 loss and 2 wins so far! Other than that, I also went through a brief depression phase because my maple account, which I finally got to level 70 with cash still in that account, was hacked and I'm locked out of that forever. FML, I'm still sad over that fact. **

**Anywho, aside from reality life, let's get back to my computer life. 204 reviews, guys! I can't believe I've reached it before 10 chapters! Thank you all so much! Nutella sandwiches that I oh so happened to make today for my wonderful reviewers who helped me reach to over 200 reviews so this chapter is for all of you who helped me reached this far, especially you, ThePerfectTwox3! Their reviews are always so long that they keep me motivated so thank you! Oh, and you should all check out their stories, they're really good, promise! Oh yeah, and thank you kGirls for being my 200****th**** reviewer! c:**

**Well, I've been thinking about what do with this chapter and I decided to just focus on the awards night and what Ash is going to tell Misty, so without further ado, here's chapter 10!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokémon characters in any way, nor do I own the songs used in this chapter. They all belong to their rightful owners.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter T<strong>_**en: **_**Night of the Awards**_

**Normal POV**

It was three in the afternoon and Misty checked her watch again to see how long it would take Ash to arrive at the coffee shop. After she hung up, she had immediately rushed to the coffee shop, ordered something and grabbed an open table. When she was about to grab her phone to call him, the raven haired man busted through the doors, drawing attention to him. He quickly spotted Misty and made his way over to her, ignoring the stares he was receiving.

Ash grabbed a seat across from Misty. "You're late," she stated dryly.

He chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry, Mist, but there was a huge traffic and it took a while to find a parking space here," he explained. When he saw that she wasn't going to say anything else, he got the message that she wanted to hear the explanation. "Misty, I'm sorry."

The cold look in her eyes disappeared as she heard those words and looked up at him. "What did you say?"

A small sad smile crawled to his face as he grabbed her hand from across the table. "I'm sorry I've been acting weird the past few weeks. It wasn't easy to keep things from you, especially when you still carry that mallet of yours around." Misty giggled at that statement, which Ash took as a good thing and continued. "I've never meant for you to get hurt, so I'm sorry."

"Can you tell me why you've been acting like you have though?" she asked calmly. "I've been wondering for a while now."

He sighed and looked at her in the eyes. "Remember that first day when you first met Duplica?" Misty nodded, hoping what he was going to say was good. "Well, when you left, she asked if I really loved you. I said yeah and since I didn't know how to show it to you, she offered to help me out but you couldn't know about it because it was a surprise. Then I remembered that your birthday was coming up and I wanted to make it special so Duplica helped me out with the planning. It was going well and everything, until, you know, you started to get suspicious and all. But Duplica just told me that there was nothing to worry about so I just kept it away from you."

Misty looked down on the table. "Then what about that dance you were doing with her in the classroom the other day?" she inquired quietly.

"I did not see that one coming, honestly. I was just checking up on the students' work during break that day and she just came up to me and danced with me. She said something about it helping her feel better. I didn't know if she was feeling down that day or not but after you caught it and left, I told her that I didn't need her help anymore and I told the principal to transfer her to a different teacher." When he was done, Ash looked up at Misty, only to see her eyes glued to him. _'He never planned to cheat on me?' _she thought.

"Is that the truth, the whole truth?" she asked in a mere whisper. Ash nodded slowly. "I'm so sorry I accused you of cheating on me, Ash." Tears were starting to form in her eyes but she resisted the urge to cry in public.

Ash smiled and made small circles on her hand with his thumb. "Its okay, Mist, it was just a small misunderstanding. I forgive you," he said softly.

"But I yelled at you when you did nothing wrong," she reasoned. "You were trying to prove that you loved me and I didn't even listen to you when you tried to explain. I'm so sorry, Ash." She sniffled, slowly catching the other customers' attention.

Ash, seeing this, sweat-dropped and chuckled sheepishly. "Hey now, Misty, don't cry. You're catching attention to us," he mumbled the last part, hoping she heard it. When she didn't, he was starting to grow nervous. "Come on, Mist, it's no fun when you cry. Smile, please, for me?" He then attempted to make her laugh by trying to tell her some jokes. "Hey, Mist, are you a Pikachu? Because you are shockingly beautiful. Get it; they're electric types, ha, ha, ha."

Even though the joke was the lamest she had ever heard Misty was able to crack a small giggle. "You're so lame, Ash. Pikachu's aren't even real; they were your favorite Pokémon."

He grinned cheekily at seeing her smile. "You should be flattered, Mist. I'm only lame when I'm with you." Again, Misty giggled again and slapped him lightly on the arm.

"Okay, Ash, you can stop with the lame pick-up lines. I'm not crying anymore."

Ash stood up abruptly and held his hand out for Misty. "Come on, I planned a picnic for us at the park and I don't know how much longer Paul can wait for us to get there before giving the basket of food to strangers."

The orange haired girl grabbed his hand and he helped her up, walking out of the coffee shop, hand in hand with the man she loved so much, laughing as he continued to use his lame pick up lines on her. _'This is how love should be, Ash. I don't want you to do anything that's not you to prove you love me. I love you just the way you are.'_

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><p>One week soon passed by and it was the day of the Teen Choice Awards night. Leaf had tried to get Gary out of babysitting Mandy but he was determined to babysit her so she gave up after her fifth try and just let him babysit her.<p>

It was the weekend, nine in the morning when a doorbell ring went off and traveled around the house. Leaf groaned at the sound and got out of bed lazily, hoping the doorbell didn't wake Gary or Mandy up. She went to the door and opened it, only to find and energetic Dawn and a tired Misty behind her. "What are you two doing here so early in the morning?" she asked groggily before yawning.

"Did you forget already? Today's the day we get our awards, silly!" Dawn answered perkily.

"I remember, Dawn, but why are you here at nine in the morning?"

"That's what I asked when she showed up at my door at eight," May replied from the ground with Elliott trying to help her up. He gave up when he saw that his efforts were useless and left his mother on the ground, going to Dawn.

Leaf shifted her attention back to Dawn and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, we have to be at Striaton City by five-thirty for introductions and have some pictures with our fans then the awards start at six. Of course, there'll be traffic so Roxanne is going to have the limo here by four and that's the time we'll have to leave. Don't forget, we still have yet to learn how to play each of our songs that we're going to play so we'll have to practice in the time we have now," she listed off.

"Roxanne's coming too?" Misty asked.

The bluenette nodded. "Yup, she became an actress after we broke up, remember? She was in that new recent movie that came out, A Walk to Remember, and her and Brawly were nominated for best couple," she informed.

"Okay, well, then come on in," Leaf mumbled, opening the door wider for the four to step in. Once they did, they took a seat down at the living room, with May hogging up one couch for her sleep and Elliott sat in front of the television.

When ten o'clock came by, everyone was fresh and awake. Misty and Dawn made breakfast for everyone in the house and when they were done, Gary took the two kids out to play, leaving the girls some alone time to practice their songs they were going to play.

"So, you wrote a song about Ash when you two were still fighting?" May inquired after reading over the lyrics before practicing her notes.

Misty nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, I was hurt so I turned it into a song. But we're okay now. He explained everything and apologized so we're back together now." She looked over her notes that she would have to learn, which was pretty easy since she practiced a few days ago with Dawn's song so she remembered her beats pretty quickly. "So your song is going to need slow drum beats, Leaf?"

The said brunette nodded. "Yeah, really slow and kind of silent beats, like not too loud but loud enough for the audience to hear it," she confirmed. "Oh, and May, I will need your acoustic playing along with Dawn at the bass," she instructed.

They both nodded and started to get working on perfecting each of their notes. When noon struck, the four started to play songs together to see how well they did with their audience consisting of Gary, Mandy and Elliott.

"So what did you think?" Leaf asked when the last song was finished.

Both Mandy and Elliott clapped. "It was good!" Mandy exclaimed with Elliott nodding in the back.

"Can Mommy teach Elliott how to play the guitar?" he asked May.

She giggled. "Sure, when you're older."

"Any comments, Gary?" Misty inquired.

He chuckled. "You guys were great."

Before any one them could say anything, Dawn gasped, catching their attention. "It's two o'clock already! We have to go get ready. I designed our dresses we're going to wear so you three," she pointed at the three girls of Heartbeat, "get upstairs and heat the curling iron up." She turned to Gary. "Gary, play with the kids." And with that, she was out the door to her car to grab the four dresses and her makeup box and in less than a minute, she was back in the house and upstairs already.

* * *

><p>"This dress is beautiful, Dawn," May praised when Dawn seated her down to curl her hair while Misty was changing into her dress.<p>

"Of course it's beautiful, I did design it, didn't I?" she joked.

Leaf grabbed the curling iron and started to curl May's hair while Dawn started on the makeup by applying a light red of eye-shadow on her eyelids. She then proceeded to add black eyeliner and mascara and continued adding light makeup.

When Leaf was done with the hair, she swept it all to the left side of her face. May's hair wasn't curled all the way, nope; her curls were loose and bouncy. When May was done, she stood up and walked to the body mirror in the room, with her black stilettos tapping against the floor. She straightened out her crimson red dress. The dress was floor length but, thanks to the heels, it didn't touch the floor entirely. It was a one shoulder with draping details ending at the hips and had a small wrapping detail that covered her right chest. The dress hugged May's body, brining out her curves and after losing that belly fat she had after giving birth to Elliott, she looked as if she was seventeen again. Dawn helped attach a diamond necklace around her neck while May put on a pair of diamond earrings.

Dawn dragged Misty to the seat and untied her side ponytail. Misty donned a royal blue one shoulder dress that hugged her curves with a long, draped skirt that flared gently at the knees, made entirely out of satin. The dress had an asymmetrical neckline and the shoulder strap was jeweled. The jewels weren't really something Misty liked, but it fitted the dress well so she went along with it. On her feet was a pair of black ballet flats. Even after six years, the orange haired girl hated heels.

When Dawn was done, Misty's eyes were surrounded by white eyeliner and blue eye-shadow that created a sky illusion and had on black mascara. On her lips was a nude pink color lipstick. Misty's hair was straightened down and was let hanging down.

Leaf was the next for Dawn to work on. It had an asymmetric draped bodice and was also a one shoulder but had a structured draping. The dress itself was a green silk-chiffon dress that had a pleated skirt reaching to the floor. Of course though, she wore a pair of black peep toe heels so the dress barely touched the floor, but the brunette still had to hold it up just a little to prevent herself from tripping over it. When Dawn was finished, Leaf's hair was curled and was left falling over her back. Her eyes were surrounded by grass green eyeliner and black mascara with nude eye-shadow while her lips were colored a light scarlet red. Misty handed Leaf a pair of onyx diamond daggling earrings and the brunette gladly accepted them and pierced them in her ears.

Lastly, Dawn stepped out of the bathroom with a pale pink dress wrapped around her body. The dress, unlike the others, was strapless with silk organza ruffles from top to bottom. The ruffles went from the top of the dress and going straight down the center, leaving the sides to be completely pleated with the side to be slit, revealing her calf. On her feet, was a pair of salmon pink high heeled sandals with straps across the toes and crossing at her ankles. She sat down and allowed her band members to work on her face and hair which turned out to be great. She had light pink lipstick on her lips with while eye-shadow on her eyelids. Like May, Dawn also had black eyeliner and mascara around her cobalt blue eyes. Her hair was put into loose curls and put up into a side bun with a few strands left down to frame her face. To finish her look off, she had a pair of pearl earrings hanging from her ears.

"We look great," Misty stated.

The other three agreed and thanked Dawn for the dresses. The bluenette diverted her attention to the clock and her eyes widened. "Guys, its three fifty-five; Roxanne's going to be here soon. Grab your clutches, we have to leave now." She went to Leaf's bed and picked up her sherbert pink clutch with a pink satin bow on the cover.

Leaf grabbed her jungle green clutch that had a crystal embellishment on it, Misty picked up a metallic clutch with a satin touch and May got her grey clutch with an elegant satin bow on the side of it. Each of them left Leaf's room and when they reached downstairs, Mandy and Elliott ran up to them. "Mommy, you look pretty!" the little girl exclaimed.

Leaf giggled and bent down to her level. "Thank you Mandy. Now, Mommy's going to be late so be a good girl and don't cause too much trouble, okay?"

The little brunette nodded and grinned. "Okay, Mandy promises to be good!"

Next to her, May was also telling Elliott the same thing. "Now, if you're a good boy, then Mommy will make you all the food you want tomorrow, okay?"

Like May, the little boy also had a love for food and would do anything for an all you can eat. "Okay!" he agreed excitingly.

Before they can say anything more, Dawn had dragged them out of the door, telling the kids to lock the door, which Gary had to do since they couldn't reach the lock yet. Once they were out the gate, a sleek black limo met them. It opened to reveal Roxanne and Brawly already inside. She was wearing a sleeveless sapphire silk-satin dress with a cowl neckline with a gathered waistband and a slightly ruffled skirt with a pair of velvet blue pumps that adorned her feet. Next to her, Brawly, wore simple black slacks and royal blue dress shirt, leaving the top two buttons unbuttoned with dress shoes to complete the outfit.

"Hey, Roxanne, long time no see," Leaf greeted when she got in.

She nodded. "Yes, it surely has been a while. How are you two doing with the kids?" she asked Leaf and May.

"We're doing great," May answered. "You should meet them one day."

Roxanne smiled. "I would like that."

So the whole ride there, the band was catching up with their old manager, talking about things they missed, things that are happening to them now, everything.

* * *

><p>Once they arrived at the red carpet, the doors were opened and instantly, paparazzi started snapping pictures as each of them stepped out of the vehicle. Roxanne walked hand and hand with Brawly down the carpet, occasionally waving to the crowd and smiling for the camera while each of the girls walked down and signed autographs for their fans and captured a few photos with them.<p>

When they arrived to the entrance of the famous and elegant restaurant, they were met up with Bianca, the host of the awards, who was just finished with talking to Roxanne and Brawly. "And here is the band that Roxanne used to be the manager of, Heartbeat! So, girls, I heard that you four are each going to be singing a song for us this evening, any hints on what they're going to be about?"

They each exchanged looks and Leaf smiled at her. "Sorry, Bianca, but it's a secret for everyone. We do hope that everyone will enjoy it though."

"And girls, do you mind telling us where you got those fabulous dresses? I myself would love to own one of those."

"They were all designed by our favorite bassist, Dawn Berlitz," May answered.

"Wow, Dawn, you have a great talent. Well, you four should get a picture and go right on in." Heartbeat did as they were told and stood together to get their photo taken, each smiling happily and went inside to find Roxanne and Brawly. When they called Dawn about the awards night, she had specifically asked to get a table with those two.

The restaurant inside was painted a bright brown color and the walls were decorated with lamps that kept the place dim and paintings. There was a sculpture on both sides of the entrance and the tables were set accordingly into rows, each with a white tablecloth over longer black tablecloth. There were a few brown poles here and there, each with salmon pink streamers wrapped around it. The chairs were covered with white with a black silk bow tied to each one.

The girls found the two couples and took a seat with them with a few other people they had met before surrounding the other half of the table. After a few minutes of catching up with them and May practically ambushing the food there, Bianca stood at the stage with a microphone in hand. "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the fifty-seventh teen choice awards. We've got some great nominees this year, so let's wish them luck!" Everyone clapped and the fans were cheering. "Okay, so let's start with giving out the first award. The best teen choice television show…" And so, the awards started, with everyone anticipating for their name to be called.

Finally, it was the girls' nomination. "Now, the legacy pop band nominees. We've got Heartbeat," from the mention of their name, fans cheered wildly while Bianca continued, "The Trix, The Charmed Ones, and All-star Girls! So let's see who got this." The blonde took the envelope waiting to be opened and read the name. She smiled and leaned in to the microphone. "And the award goes to…the one and only, Heartbeat!" Fans jumped from their seats and had ear shattering screams as the band made their way up to accept their award.

The girls waited for everyone to calm down before Misty spoke into the microphone. "Thank you all so much for nominating and voting for us. We're speechless, I mean there were so many great nominees," she said with the girls nodding at the last statement. "We want to thank our manager, Roxanne for supporting us, our family of course for always being there, our fans for supporting us as well and four important guys who inspired us to write so many songs." Leaf's heart broke a little from the last statement. _'Inspiration, huh?' _"So as thanks, we're each going to sing a song as a treat for being so kind to us. We'll be right back but while you wait, Bianca, will you do the honors of presenting the next award?"

Bianca went up and presented the next award which was best movie couple, which Roxanne and Brawly won in a landslide.

The girls made their way to the backstage to the changing rooms to something comfortable so they were able to perform. Each girl wore a pair of skinny jeans in different shades of blue with different colored tank tops. May had on a red and white striped tank, Dawn's was pink and white, Misty wore a royal blue and white striped tank and Leaf had a light green and white striped tank top. They made their way back to the stage and set up their instruments and when they were done, Misty was the first that was going to sing so she had on a head microphone with Leaf at her rightful place at the keyboard, May taking over the drums since Misty was singing and Dawn at her place of being bass. They also had similar headsets as Misty.

"Good evening everyone," Misty greeted. "This is a song that I wrote last week when I was feeling a little down but I'm okay now! I still want you all to enjoy the song though, so I hope you'll enjoy it." The fans cheered and soon got silent when they saw that the girls were ready. _**(The One That Got Away- Katy Perry)**_

Leaf started out by playing the keyboard softly which was soon followed with May's drumming, harmonizing perfectly with the keyboard.

**Misty: **_Summer after high school when we first met  
>We make out in your Mustang to Radiohead<br>And on my 18th Birthday  
>We got matching tattoos<em>

She smiled at the old memories with Ash as she continued to sing and Dawn started to play the bass from there.

_Used to steal your parents' liquor  
>And climb to the roof<br>Talk about our future  
>Like we had a clue<br>Never planned that one day  
>I'd be losing you<em>

**Heartbeat: **_In another life  
>I would be your girl<br>We'd keep all our promises  
>Be us against the world<em>

**Misty: **_In another life  
>I would make you stay<br>So I don't have to say  
>You were the one that got away<br>The one that got away_

May's drumming didn't miss a beat as she continued to play it, putting all her concentration into drumming it. It seemed easy but for someone like her, who didn't drum much, it required a lot of effort. Misty started to walk around the stage and high-fived the fans who were enjoying the song as she kept singing.

_I was June and you were my Johnny Cash  
>Never one without the other we made a pact<br>Sometimes when I miss you  
>I put those records on<em>

_Someone said you had your tattoo removed  
>Saw you downtown singing the Blues<br>It's time to face the music  
>I'm no longer your muse<em>

A sad smile formed on her lips as she positioned herself back at center stage.

**Heartbeat: **_But in another life  
>I would be your girl<br>We'd keep all our promises  
>Be us against the world<em>

**Misty: **_In another life  
>I would make you stay<br>So I don't have to say  
>You were the one that got away<br>The one that got away  
>The o-o-o-o-o-one [x3]<br>The one that got away_

_All this money can't buy me a time machine (_**Heartbeat: **_Nooooo)  
>It can't replace you with a million rings (<em>**Heartbeat: **_Nooooo)  
>I shoulda told you what you meant to me (<em>**Heartbeat: **_Woooooow)  
>'Cause now I paid the price<em>

Misty started to walk forward and as she walked up to the edge, she continued to sing the last bits of the song.

_In another life  
>I would be your girl<br>We'd keep all our promises  
>Be us against the world<em>

_In another life  
>I would make you stay<br>So I don't have to say  
>You were the one that got away<br>The one that got away  
>The o-o-o-o-o-one [x3]<em>

_In another life  
>I would make you stay<br>So I don't have to say  
>You were the one that got away<br>The one that got away_

Misty ended the song softly as sang the last line. The moment she was done, the crowd cheered loud for them and it made the girls happy. "I'm so glad you guys enjoyed it," Misty said happily. "Now, here's May with her song!"

The crowd welcomed the blue eyed brunette as she made her way up to the center stage with Misty taking over the drums while Leaf ditched the keyboard and went for the acoustic guitar and Dawn switching to the electric guitar.

"Hey guys, this is a song I wrote a while back and well, I think it's a pretty good song so I hope you'll all like it as well!" She turned to the girls and nodded at them who nodded back. _**(Back to December by Taylor Swift)**_

Dawn started out by playing the guitar slowly which was soon joined with Leaf's acoustic playing. As on cue, May started singing.

**May: **_I'm so glad you made time to see me.  
>How's life? Tell me how's your family.<br>I haven't seen them in a while._

May smiled at the irony of the verse. She didn't have to know how his family was when she worked for his mother.

_You've been good, busier than ever.  
>We small talk, work and the weather,<br>Your guard is up and I know why.  
>Because the last time you saw me<br>Is still burned in the back of your mind.  
>You gave me roses and I left them there to die.<em>

Misty's drum beats soon joined in with and ended You've been good, busier than ever,

_So this is me swallowing my pride,  
>Standing in front of you saying, "I'm sorry for that night,"<br>And I'd go back to December all the time.  
>It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you.<br>Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine.  
>I'd go back to December, turn around and make it all right.<br>I go back to December all the time._

The girls' playing continued in sync as May started to walk forward and touched some of her fans' hands as she walked up. When she felt like she was close enough to the edge, she stopped and continued to sing.

_These days I haven't been sleeping,  
>Staying up, playing back myself leavin'.<br>When your birthday passed and I didn't call.  
>And I think about summer, all the beautiful times,<br>I watched you laughing from the passenger side.  
>Realized that I loved you in the fall.<em>

_And then the cold came, the dark days when fear crept into my mind  
>You gave me all your love and all I gave you was "Goodbye".<em>

_So this is me swallowing my pride  
>Standing in front of you saying, "I'm sorry for that night."<br>And I go back to December all the time.  
>It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you,<br>Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine.  
>I'd go back to December, turn around and change my own mind<br>I go back to December all the time._

Water was starting to form in her eyes but May managed to push them back as she sang the third verse of the song.

_I miss your tanned skin, your sweet smile,  
>So good to me, so right<br>And how you held me in your arms that September night -  
>The first time you ever saw me cry.<em>

_Maybe this is wishful thinking,  
>Probably mindless dreaming,<br>But if we loved again, I swear I'd love you right._

_I'd go back in time and change it but I can't.  
>So if the chain is on your door I understand.<em>

After singing this, she had managed to have a smile form on her lips.

_But this is me swallowing my pride  
>Standing in front of you saying, "I'm sorry for that night."<br>And I go back to December...  
>It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you,<br>Wishing I'd realize what I had when you were mine.  
>I'd go back to December, turn around and make it all right.<br>I'd go back to December, turn around and change my own mind_

_I go back to December all the time.  
>All the time.<em>

May ended the song in a mere whisper and her sapphire blue eyes showed true sincerity. It was obvious to the girls that May wrote the song about Drew and she really felt bad about leaving him. Hopefully, they each thought, the two can patch things up again.

"So, did anyone like that song?" May asked cheerfully to the audience. They gave out ear piercing screams and the brunette giggled. "I'll take that as a yes." She turned to the girls and smiled at them. "Now, let's give a warm welcome to Dawn. The person who designed our beautiful dresses and our favorite bassist."

The bluenette removed the electric and handed it to May who gladly accepted it and Leaf took the place of playing bass since Dawn's song didn't require keyboard.

"Thank you, May, for the nice introduction. This song is actually for someone very important to me. Even though we get into fights, he's the best thing that's ever been mine." The crowd 'aww-ed' at this and when they calmed down, the girls each nodded to each other, ready to play. _**(Mine by Taylor Swift)**_

**Dawn: **_Oh, oh, oh_

Right when those words left her mouth, the three girls started playing their respective instruments together, harmonizing perfectly, even better than when they were practicing at home.

_Oh, oh, oh_

_You were in college working part time waiting tables  
>Left a small town, never looked back<br>I was a flight risk with a fear of falling  
>Wondering why we bother with love if it never lasts<em>

_I say can you believe it?  
>As we're lying on the couch<br>The moment I could see it  
>Yes, yes, I can see it now<em>

As she was singing, it got more upbeat and the music went a bit faster. Dawn was grinning as she sang now.

**Heartbeat: **_Do you remember we were sitting there by the water?  
>You put your arm around me for the first time<br>You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter  
>You are the best thing that's ever been mine<em>

The beat didn't slow down as the song continued. Instead, it kept going at the same speed and the bluenette was still grinning as she sang.

**Dawn: **_Flash forward and we're taking on the world together  
>And there's a drawer of my things at your place<br>You learn my secrets and you figure out why I'm guarded  
>You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes<em>

_But we got bills to pay  
>We got nothing figured out<br>When it was hard to take  
>Yes, yes, this is what I thought about<em>

**Heartbeat: **_Do you remember we were sitting there by the water?  
>You put your arm around me for the first time<br>You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter  
>You are the best thing that's ever been mine<em>

**Dawn: **_Do you remember all the city lights on the water?  
>You saw me start to believe for the first time<br>You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter  
>You are the best thing that's ever been mine<em>

_And I remember that fight, 2:30 a.m.  
>As everything was slipping right out of our hands<br>I ran out crying and you followed me out into the street_

Dawn wrapped her both arms around herself, as if trying to brace herself and looked at the crowd with sad eyes, almost acting out her next verse of lines.

_Braced myself for the goodbye  
>'Cause that's all I've ever known<br>Then you took me by surprise  
>You said I'll never leave you alone<em>

_You said I remember how we felt sitting by the water  
>And every time I look at you, it's like the first time<br>I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter  
>She is the best thing that's ever been mine<em>

**Heartbeat: **_Hold on, make it last  
>Hold on, never turn back<br>You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter  
>You are the best thing that's ever been mine<em>

**Dawn: **_Do you believe it?  
>We're gonna make it now<br>I can see it  
>I can see it now<em>

Like May, Dawn had also ended the song in almost a mere whisper and smiled when the audience cheered wildly. She giggled and bowed to the crowd. "Thank you all so much for listening. Now, for the last singer of the night, let's welcome our one and only keyboard player, Leaf!"

The green eyed brunette placed the bass guitar down and went to the center of the stage while Dawn headed straight towards the keyboard, setting it to piano mode. May left her electric guitar and grabbed her acoustic guitar. "Well, I don't really have much to say about this song except maybe the fact that I wrote this because I miss someone really dear to me." _**(A Thousand Years by Christina Perri- MUST LISTEN, it's a great song!)**_

Dawn started off with playing the keyboard slowly and May waited patiently for Leaf to start singing before playing the guitar.

**Leaf: ** _Heart beats fast  
>Colors and promises<br>How to be brave  
>How can I love when I'm afraid to fall<br>But watching you stand alone  
>All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow<em>

_One step closer_

Leaf closed her eyes as she took a deep breath in to sing her next lines while May's playing sped up.

_I have died everyday waiting for you  
>Darling don't be afraid I have loved you<br>For a thousand years  
>I'll love you for a thousand more<em>

After singing this, Misty got her cue and started to slowly play the cymbals on her drums as Leaf continued.

_Time stands still  
>Beauty in all she is<br>I will be brave  
>I will not let anything take away<br>What's standing in front of me  
>Every breath<br>Every hour has come to this_

_One step closer_

The brunette walked to her fans and touched most of their hands, making them grin, trying their best not to scream because if they did then they wouldn't hear the song since Leaf was singing it so softly.

_I have died everyday waiting for you  
>Darling don't be afraid I have loved you<br>For a thousand years  
>I'll love you for a thousand more<em>

_And all along I believed I would find you  
>Time has brought your heart to me<br>I have loved you for a thousand years  
>I'll love you for a thousand more<em>

_One step closer_

_One step closer_

_I have died everyday waiting for you  
>Darling don't be afraid I have loved you<br>For a thousand years  
>I'll love you for a thousand more<em>

_And all along I believed I would find you  
>Time has brought your heart to me<br>I have loved you for a thousand years  
>I'll love you for a thousand more<em>

When she was done, the audience broke into their usual wild scream. Leaf waited for them to calm down before saying anything. "I hoped you all enjoyed the song and I hope you'll all continue to listen to our music even though we're not really in the music industry anymore."

The other three walked up next to her and smiled at the fans. "Don't worry though, we'll still release some songs but it'll be rare so keep an eye out," Dawn added.

After the little concert, the awards went on and when it struck eleven o'clock, it was over and the girls along with Roxanne left, going back to Village Bridge to drop the girls off.

"I wonder how Gary did with the kids…" Leaf pondered.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile<strong>

"Come on, Mandy, it's way past your bedtime and your mom is going to be home any minute now!" Gary called, trying to get the little girl to him. She was currently running around the house with come candy in hand with Elliott hiding somewhere in the house. Oh, how he was going to be in trouble.

She giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. "No, you have to catch me first," she taunted before skipping off again.

Gary ran after her again but this time, he was tripped down and when he looked at the source, he found Elliott, snickering to himself. Before the little boy could react though, Gary had already grabbed him carried him along while he went after Mandy.

The little girl was still giggling and running around freely when the lights of the limo flashed through the window, catching her attention. "Elliott, they're back now!" she called.

The little boy squirmed his way out of Gary's grasp and ran to the couch with Mandy. They both closed their eyes and were soon sound asleep while a flabbergasted Gary just stared at them. "Unbelievable," he muttered to himself.

He was snapped from his thoughts when May and Leaf entered through the doors, both holding a trophy in hand and both gushed when they saw the two kids sleeping together. "Aw, how cute!" May squealed.

Leaf giggled and turned to Gary. "How was it babysitting them?" she teased.

"Never again," he said. "Wait, how come she was okay a few days back when I was watching her?"

"She's pretty hyper at nighttime and its hard for her to sleep knowing that I'm not here," she explained. "Like I said, it was your funeral." She giggled and placed her trophy down with her other band things and gathered Mandy into her arms. "Thanks again for watching her. May, you can stay over tonight if you want since it's late."

"It's fine, Dawn offered to give me a ride home so I have to go now. Bye guys, and thanks Gary for watching Elliott."

He simply waved at her. "Uh huh, you're welcome," he mumbled as he collapsed down at the couch. "Good night," he murmured before falling asleep on the couch.

Leaf giggled at him and brought Mandy to her room to put her in bed. After, she checked the doors and when she was sure they were locked, she got a blanket and placed it over the sleeping figure on her couch. The brunette looked at him and ran her fingers over his face. "_Time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more,"_ she sang softly to him. "A thousand years," she whispered.

With that, she left to go wash the makeup off her face and changed before heading off to bed.

'_I'll love you for a thousand more.'_

* * *

><p><strong>So my attempt to finish this before the New Years failed so this would be a little Happy New Year gift for you lovely reviewers who's been there for me for so long! (: I DO NOT OWN THE MOVIE A WALK TO REMEMBER! I just really like that movie c:<strong>

**LOOK OUT FOR UPDATES! I plan to update a few chapters for Demon's Flower and this would probably be updated next week. Not much happened here but that all ends here! Starting from the beginning of next chapter, a lot of things will start happening. For example, Gary getting more and more flashbacks and how May and Drew are going to patch things up and that's all I'm revealing!**

**I would love it if you all reviewed! Like those long reviews that always seem to make me happy when I see them. LOL, just kidding, you don't have to but I would love it if that happens. So, review and look out for updates. Now, I shall go and watch the Bleach marathon. Byee.**


	11. This is Not Goodbye Forever

**LAKERS HAVE 5 WINS NOW AND 4 LOSSES! KEEP IT UP, GUYS, MAKE IT TO PLAYOFFS! (:**

**Sorry for that but I'm now a huge Lakers fan and I get really excited to see them play, like no kidding. Just ask my mom. Anyway, back to this story! I'm sorry again for not updating Demon's Flower but I was really busy this week and I just wanted to update this story one last before my finals which is the week after next week so no updates next week, just to let you know. **

**Now, I know I said starting from here the chapters will start getting interesting but I just had to cover this part so just wait about two weeks and you'll get what you want, okay? **

**Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! You have no idea how happy I was to see those beautiful long reviews in my mail. It would be nice if I kept receiving them you know…just saying. ;D OKAY, NOW LETS GO TO THE NEXT CHAPTER! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or places. I only own the people you've haven't heard of. HAPPY READING. **

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Eleven: This is Not Goodbye Forever<strong>_

**Normal POV**

"Wait, so you and Elliott are going to move in with Drew?" Dawn inquired.

It was the next day after the awards night which was Sunday. Misty and Dawn decided to stop by to pay a small visit with May at Leaf's house and May was telling them about her plan to move in with Drew while the two kids were outside the yard playing. Gary was doing his usual research.

The brunette nodded. "Yeah, he asked if we could ever go back to the way we were before. You know, happy and such and I said we could try so he wanted me and Elliott to move in with him."

"Did you tell Elliott yet?" Leaf asked, raising an eyebrow.

May sighed and shook her head sadly. "I don't know how to tell him. He seems so happy here that I don't want to take it away. I wish we could stay here instead but Drew insisted we go live with him so I don't really have a choice, you know? I will find a way to tell him though. I'll tell him tonight."

"Where are you going to be living at anyway?" Misty asked curiously.

May shrugged. "I don't really know. Drew never told me where we were going to move to. I guess it'll just be a surprise."

"Imagine he was going to take you to live with him and the other guys. Oh won't that be amusing," Leaf mused aloud before giggling to herself.

The look on May's face was readable while the other girls mused to themselves as well. "Oh my god, what if Leaf's right and I'm stuck living with Ash and Paul? They're going to be horrible role models to Elliott!" By now, May was freaking out.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Dawn and Misty inquired in unison, arms crossed across their chest.

The now calmed down brunette rolled her sapphire orbs. "Those two are rude to each other. For all we know, they could be swearing to each other all the time and if we do move there, Elliott is going to pick up those words. I don't want my son to learn such language at a young age," she explained.

Misty and Dawn thought about her answer and nodded in agreement. "I think you're right. They could be swearing every second," the bluenette joked. "But it would hilarious if you had to move in with them," she added.

"DAWN!" And the ex-band mates spent most of their afternoon bonding together since it was rare for them to do that with work in the way and such.

**Nighttime!**

"Hey, Elliott," May called, motioning him to come to the couch with her. The little boy obliged and hastily ran over to sit next to her. "Do you like Drew?" she asked.

He grinned and nodded. "Yeah, he's very nice to Elliott and funny too!"

May smiled down at him, hoping he was ready for the next question that was going to be tossed at him. "How would you feel if we lived with him?"

His emerald green eyes widened as he gaped at May. "Why are we going to move there, Mommy?"

The brunette looked at her son sadly and let out a sigh. "You always wanted know about Daddy, right?" Elliott nodded slowly. "I'll tell you about him now." The little boy shifted how he sat and once he was done, May started the story. She told him about Drew being his father, how she felt bad about leaving him, how Mrs. Hayden was really his grandmother, everything.

By the time she was with telling him everything, Elliott's eyes were still wide from shock and he was practically speechless. To say the least, he was confused. "Mommy is lying to Elliott…Grandma Hayden never told me."

"She never told you because Mommy made her not to tell anyone. Elliott, Mommy isn't lying to you. Drew is your daddy."

Then, Elliott jumped off the couch abruptly and faced May. Anger was evident in his eyes. "Mommy lied to Elliott! I hate you!" he yelled before breaking off into a sprint to his room. Once he was inside, he locked himself in there and jumped onto his bed.

May ran up to his room and tried opening it only to realize it locked and started to knock. "Elliott, open the door. Let me explain everything."

"No, Elliott doesn't want to listen to Mommy!" he choked back.

Hearing this, May found it futile to do anything if Elliott was going to behave like he was now. That was another thing that was able to obtain from her. When he was angry, he would throw a big fit about it and want to be alone so when he said he hated her, she knew he didn't mean it. He only said it out of anger so she didn't take it to heart. The brunette sighed. "Okay, Mommy understands that you're mad. Mommy won't bother you anymore then." With that, she walked away from his door and started to make her way to her room to start packing.

**Next Day**

The next day, May went to check up on Elliott. She unlocked his room door with a spare key and found him still asleep on his bed. She figured that he would be a bit calmer than the night before so she went to take a seat on his bedside. "Elliott, are you still mad?" she asked quietly. He simply turned the other way from her. "Elliott, I know you're mad but get up, please?"

He continued to ignore her, which May let it slide, and when she heard the doorbell, she sighed and left his room, closing it lightly.

When May opened her front door, she was met with Drew standing outside. "Ready to leave?" he asked.

She shook her head gloomily. "I told Elliott about us last night. You know, about you being his father and such and he got angry afterwards and since then, he's been ignoring me."

Since Drew couldn't stand seeing her like this, he decided to talk to Elliott himself. "Where is he?" he inquired.

"In his room, why?"

Instead of answering her, Drew simply walked past her and made his way upstairs to his son's room. He tried to open it but it was locked. Seems like Elliott locked it when May left his room. Drew sighed yet again and took out an old credit card from his wallet. He slipped it in between the door and started to crack the door open which he did with no problem. He looked at Elliott, who looked amazed for a brief second before he went back to his stoic self. Drew went to sit on the edge of his bed. "So why are you mad?" he asked.

Elliott stayed quiet as he just turned to his other side. Drew let out a frustrated sigh. It seems like he doesn't like it when he's being ignored by a little kid. "You're like, what, five and you have this kind of temper? Really, you have your mom's personality no doubt." Even that didn't make Elliott say anything.

So for about twenty minutes, Drew had tried countless ways to try to make his son say something. "You know you're making your mom sad with your behavior," he finally said when Elliott still refused to say anything.

The little brunet boy finally turned to his father, surprising Drew at the process. "Mommy is sad?" he asked meekly.

Drew nodded. "Yeah, she's sad that you're mad at her." When his son didn't say anything, he continued, "So why're you mad?"

Elliott sat up from his bed and stared down at his sheets. "Mommy and Grandma never told Elliott you were Daddy," he explained. "And if Elliott move away then Elliott can't see Mandy anymore."

"We don't have to leave right now, you know," he suddenly said. "If you want, we can leave when you come home from school in the afternoon," he offered.

Elliott then jumped up from his bed. "Really?" he asked excitingly.

Drew nodded. "Yup, we still need to pack up on a lot of things anyway."

He was then caught off guard when he felt a pair of arms around his neck tightly. "Thank you, Daddy," Elliott whispered. Drew smiled and hugged him back as well. After a few seconds, they let go of each other and he looked up at his father. "Can you teach me how to open the door like that?"

Drew chuckled. "When you're older, okay?"

After Elliott was done changing with the clothes May had left when she last visited him, the two made it downstairs together where May was currently packing up some pictures. "Mommy!" Elliott cried when he got to the last step. He made a mad dash towards her and gripped onto her leg. "Elliott's sorry for saying I hate you. Can Mommy forgive me?"

May raised an eyebrow at Drew, who simply smirked and flicked his hair before making his way to grab an empty box to help pack up. The brunette then turned her attention back to her son and carried him up, smiling. "Its okay, Elliott. Mommy forgives you," she said calmly. She then raised an eyebrow at his backpack. "Did you want to go to school today one last time?"

He nodded. "Daddy says we can go afterschool."

May bit her lip as she looked at the time. It was a little past the time school started but it would probably be the last time Elliott can see everyone else so May just went with the second choice. "Okay, I'll take you to school then. Drew, can you help pack up some things and watch the house?"

He simply nodded as he continued to pack the dishes in the kitchen. "Just hurry so you can finish packing."

* * *

><p>At school, May entered the classroom with Elliott to explain to the teacher that he would no longer be attending school there because he was moving. Mai, the teacher, was saddened by the news but wished May luck at a new city. When May left, Elliott went to his usual seat, which was next to Mandy. "Okay, class, we have a change of plans today," Mai announced, catching their attention. "Since Elliott is going to move today, we're all going to make a goodbye card for him, okay?"<p>

They all nodded and Mai went to get the construction papers for them while Mandy was still shocked and devastated with the news. Then she turned to the boy next to her who was staring down at the table. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, tears brimming in her eyes.

"My mommy just told me last night. I'm sorry, Mandy, but you can come over afterschool," he suggested.

"I can?" she asked.

He nodded and grinned. "Of course, my mommy will let you stay for a while. Now smile, you don't look nice when you cry."

At that, Mandy managed to crack a smile and a small giggle. That day, the two ended up playing with each other during recess time rather than with their usual big group. They played soccer together and he was able to see Mandy happy, which made him happy as well.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile<strong>

"Hey, Drew, where are we going to be living at?" May asked as she carried the box to the moving truck which was parked outside her house.

He smirked and flicked his hair. "That's a surprise, June."

"My name is May! M-a-y, it's not that hard to remember you know!"

The smirk stayed plastered onto his face. "What do you mean not that hard? There are twelve months. How the hell am I supposed to remember your name when there are eleven other months?"

By now, her face was already fuming red. "Well at least my name isn't the past tense of draw!" she retorted.

"That's the worst retort I've ever heard."

"You know its original, Drew," May said smugly. "Can you help me bring this box to the truck? It's heavy."

"What's the magic word?" he taunted.

May shot daggers at him while he just smirked at her. "Can you _please _help me bring this box to the truck?"

He grabbed the box from her hands. "See, now was that so hard to do?" May opened her mouth to something but he said something else. "Oh, and you look nice today."

The brunette looked taken aback for a second before a blush crept itself to her face. She turned back to the house and grabbed another box as he carried one to the truck. _'Stupid Drew, stop making my heart beat so fast.'_

* * *

><p>When it was time to leave at the afternoon, Leaf picked the two up and Elliott told her about the move and how he wanted Mandy to be there when he left. The older brunette agreed to let her daughter go over and she decided to go over too as well to see May one last time.<p>

They walked and once they got there, a big white moving truck was outside. Elliott ran inside the house with Mandy following close behind. Leaf simply giggled to herself and took her time getting there. When she was there, May was seen giving a hug to Mandy while Elliott was standing next to her. She saw Drew motion her over to him so she followed her order. "What's up?"

"You haven't told him, have you?" His tone was serious so Leaf knew he wasn't playing around at all.

She shook her head. "No, I haven't told him anything and I want it to stay like it so promise me you won't tell him anything. That applies to Paul and Ash too."

He stared at her and then sighed. He and her friends knew very well how badly she wanted him back but she didn't want to bring back the horrible memories to him. Drew would've told Gary a long time ago if it wasn't for Megan always being with him and if he never brought her up. "Fine, I won't tell him anything. But I'm just going to tell you one thing. They're getting married three months from now. You still have time to change your mind about telling him."

She shook her head. "I made a promise I would leave him that day. If he wants to remember now, he has to do it on his own," she stated firmly. "Besides, he probably wouldn't believe me if I told him anyway," she said sadly.

He patted her head. "Don't worry, he'll remember somehow. The guys and I can stall the wedding date too if it makes you feel any better."

Leaf managed to smile. "Thanks but I don't think it would be necessary. Seriously though, don't let Ash or Paul tell him, got it?"

He sighed. "Yes, they can't tell him either. I'll tell them too if you want."

"Thank you," she said happily before going to give May a last hug. "I'll miss you, May. Visit us okay?"

The sapphire eyed brunette giggled. "Don't worry, with Elliott, I think we'll be here every weekend," she mused, making the other brunette laugh. "I'm going to miss you so much, Leaf."

"Me too, May, but it's not goodbye forever. We'll see each other like every week right?"

May smiled. "Yeah, we will." She then looked down at Mandy. "Bye, Mandy, I'm going to miss you so much. Don't cause your mom too much trouble, okay?"

"Okay, Mandy will promise Aunt May because she asked nicely."

"Come on, June, we have to get going," Drew called from the doorway with Elliott.

May resisted the urge to yell at him and walked her way to the door to slip on her shoes while Mandy and Leaf stalked closely behind. Both of them gave Elliott a hug before he left while Mandy held back the tears. "Don't cry, Mandy! I promise to visit a lot and I will call you everyday too, so you can't cry, okay?" The little boy held out his pinky finger and she managed a small smile.

"Okay, but you pinky promised," she confirmed, hooking her pinky to his.

May and Leaf watched as the adorable scene was happening in front of them while Drew just stood there awkwardly. "So, uh, not to ruin the moment or anything, but we have to get going so…" he trailed off slowly hoping May got the message.

"Okay, Elliott," May finally said. She held out her hand for him to grab. "It's time to go now, come on."

Her son held onto her hand and the two walked out of the house and to the car Drew was heading too. It seemed that the moving truck already left which meant they were going to be the last ones to arrive at the house.

Mandy and Leaf walked out hand in hand as well as the two watched the car go while Mandy had tears streaming down her face. When the car was out of sight, Leaf looked down at her daughter and bent down to her level when she saw that she as crying. "Come on now, Elliott promised to call you everyday. Don't cry, okay?"

"What if he forgets?"

"He won't because he promised, remember? Now come on, let's go home now." Since Mandy probably wasn't in the mood to walk happily home, Leaf decided to carry her daughter home while she still cried. After a few comforting words though, the little girl had stopped crying and was soon asleep.

"Leaf?" She turned around to find Gary walking towards her. "Do you need help carrying Mandy home? It's not much trouble." He added the last part in when he saw that she was going to object to that idea. "Come on, you must be tired."

Although she didn't want to, he did have a good point. She's been busy at the sandwich shop and carrying Mandy would've only made her more tired so she ended up reluctantly giving the sleeping girl to him gently. "So why is she sleeping at this time? She's usually running around."

"Elliott moved away and she was crying for most of the way home so you can't blame her for being tired." When she saw the confused look on his face, she elaborated more. "If you're wondering about Elliott, Drew found out that he was his father so May and Elliott are going to move in with him to try to get back to the way they were before."

"Oh, I see. Wait, Drew's a father?"

She giggled. "You never noticed the resemblance? Elliott's got most of his looks from Drew, you know."

"Well now that you mentioned it, they do look pretty similar. Wow, he's a father at such a young age. He's actually beaten me to fatherhood."

'_He actually beat you there just a few days earlier…' _Leaf mentally said.

"So Mandy was crying because he had to move away?" Gary inquired.

Leaf nodded. "Yeah, they've been friends since they were in diapers, literally. Mandy has many friends at school, trust me, but Elliott is like her best friend. It's quite adorable if you ask me though. They're always seen together it takes no genius to figure out that they'll be going out one day," Leaf said softly as she remembered her childhood. She smiled fondly at the thought of it.

Gary smiled at the words as well. "You say it as if you've experienced it before. Was Mandy's father your best friend?"

The brunette couldn't help but smile big at the memory. "Yeah, he was my best friend. Like these two, we were really close. He would get pretty cocky sometimes, a huge player and when someone made fun of him he would have this look but he had a good heart and he had his reason for being a player," she explained.

"Sounds like we're pretty alike. I'm not a player though, I just tend to get a bit cocky sometimes and the guys always make fun of me so I have a look for them." He chuckled at the mention of his friends.

By the time he said that, they had already reached home and Leaf opened the door for them. He carefully laid Mandy down on the couch and placed a blanket over her while Leaf made some lunch for them. When she was done, she handed Gary a sandwich while he was typing up his report. "Here, I made Mandy a sandwich too so, when she wakes up, get it for her. I have to go back to work."

"Wait, aren't you going to eat anything?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't get hungry that easily. Now I really have to go so I'll see you and Mandy later, okay? Bye." And with that, she left the brunet sitting on the kitchen table with his sandwich.

"_Grandpa told me it's bad if you don't eat," a little boy said in a worry tone._

_A little girl just stood there with her arms crossed. "I know its bad but if you eat too much, you can get fat too, duh. Besides, I don't get hungry that easily."_

Gary shook his head a couple of times. "What're with these images lately?"

* * *

><p><strong>So, not much happened, yet again, but there was a flashback like I promised before c; I hope this will keep you guys waiting for two weeks cause that's when my next update is going to be because of finals, sadly so wish me luck on those. It's my only chance to get a 3.86 for first semester and I'm so close to it too.<strong>

**Anyway, don't worry guys! I DID hint a small shipping that's going to bloom in the end of this story and I'm pretty sure you all know already. ;D And if you're a bit confused on Elliott calling Drew's mom Grandma, it's because in my culture, I always have to call elders by Grandma -insert name here- so I've decided to just do the same here since Elliott is pretty young for formality like Mrs. Hayden.**

**OH, AND BEFORE I FORGET! VOTE ON MY POLL FOR WHICH STORY I SHOULD START WHEN I FINISH ONE OF MY STORIES. THERE ARE TWO I'M THINKING OF SO READ THE SUMMARY AT THE BOTTOM OF MY PROFILE AND VOTE! IT'LL HELP ME A LOT! **

**REVIEW GUYS! It's your long reviews that motivate me to update faster and the sole reason why I try my best to make it to your liking! And I also get to know your preference, like if you like reading chapters with little bonding moments between Leaf and Gary for this. SO, REVIEEW AND VOTE BECAUSE IT WOULD HELP AND MEAN A LOT TO ME. KAY, BYEE! **


	12. Surprise Visitor

**That's right guys, I'm back! I finally finished finals week and I'm sad to say that I bombed two of my finals BUT, luckily, my grades didn't drop a letter grade so that's a relief. So, I still have a 3.6 but it's still good for me. It could've been lower…LOL. Well, anyway, thank you all so much for reviewing last chapter! I would seriously love it if you guys continue with your freakishly long reviews because I absolutely love reading them, no joke. **

**So back to the story! I'm glad you enjoyed it and don't worry, this is where the plot thickens, I think. Whatever you guys want to think, LOL. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or places except for the ones you have never heard of. **

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Twelve: Surprise Visitor<strong>_

**Normal POV**

"So, Paul, now that Misty and Ash along with Drew and May are happy again, we can just focus on Leaf and Gary! Do you have a plan?" the bubbly bluenette chirped happily.

Her plum-haired boyfriend simply grunted in response. "Troublesome, you come up with the plans, not me."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted at him, cheeks puffed. "Oh come on, Paul. We don't have much time. Gary is going to be finished with his research sooner or later and when that happens, he's coming back to get married with that witch of a Megan." Dawn scrunched her nose at the mention of name in disgust. "And I do not want those two married. I mean, she isn't even right for him."

Paul pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. It wasn't because he didn't care about his friend. He just couldn't think of an effective plan that would change Gary's mind and besides, it was Dawn's idea from the beginning to get them back together. "Troublesome, I understand where you're coming from but we just can't ruin their wedding like that. The only way to get Oak to remember is by stalling the wedding so he would have more time to do so."

At this, Dawn began to perk up. "I know where you're going with this Paul and I know this plan would work perfectly. We just need a little help from his grandfather…" she trailed off, leaving her boyfriend in full confusion, even though it didn't show. Dawn hastily grabbed her phone from her back pocket and dialed the number of the older Oak.

"**Hello?"**

"Hello, Professor Oak? I need to ask you a question." The bluenette didn't even let the old man say anything before asking her question. "Do you want Gary and Megan to get married?"

It was quiet on the other line for a while and Dawn assumed he had hung up until she heard him sigh. **"Honestly speaking, I am not looking forward to it, but if that's what he wants then I have no choice but to support his decision."**

Dawn smiled at the response. "Then how would you feel about stalling the wedding?" Even without seeing him, she sensed the confused look he had on his face and continued on. "Paul had an idea where we can stall the wedding day until Gary remembers. What do you think of the plan? Because we really need your help. You're his grandfather and he would listen to you," she reasoned.

"**I think I know where you're going with this, Dawn, but things are easier said than done. We don't know for sure if he'll listen to me or if he will go through the marriage with Megan like they originally planned. But, I will try to help out."**

The bluenette grinned at the result and retained the squeal she had. "That's great to hear, Professor Oak," she chirped. "I'll let you go back to your work now, bye."

After bidding his goodbye as well, Professor Oak hung up and Dawn turned to Paul excitingly, only to find him knocked out on the couch. The bluenette smiled softly at her sleeping boyfriend before grabbing a blanket that happened to be lying on one of sofas and placing it on him. She placed a small kiss on his forehead and left a note on the table for him when he wakes up before leaving back for her office.

* * *

><p>"May, we're here," Drew announced upon the arrival of their new home.<p>

The sapphire eyed brunette stretched her arms before getting off the car with a sleeping Elliott in her arms. She stared in awe at the house she was going to live in. It wasn't a mansion like what she would expect from Drew but a simple, cozy two story house fit for four people. May noted that the paint job was plain yet simple and she approved of the design of the house. She then turned to Drew, who was standing next to her, smirking at her amazed reaction.

"Do you like the house?" he asked, flicking his hair.

She looked around the place only to see other houses vaguely similar to their house. "Where are we?"

"We're in Accumula Town," he answered. "I figured you would want to live somewhere similar to Village Bridge air so here we are," he explained. He then proceeded to grab her suitcases in both hands and walked towards the house. "My things are already in there. Let's get going."

May didn't question him anything and followed him inside the house to get settled in. "Where's Elliott's room?"

He pointed up the stairs. "It's the second door to the right. I ordered the movers to out his things in already since they got here before us so his bed should be ready."

The brunette simply nodded and followed his words by walking up the stairs and entering the room he had instructed. While she placed Elliott in bed, Drew grabbed some of the other boxes that was in the car and proceeded to start putting the things in the house. Since the movers already settled in the couches and tables and so on, he just had to put the pictures up and let May decide the rest.

Moments later, May came down stairs and started helping him with the pictures as well. "So you basically bought this house along with most of the furniture after I told you Elliott was your son," she stated as she placed a picture of her and Elliott on top of the table next to the television.

The green haired male smirked and flicked his hair. "Well obviously, August."

"Get my name right, Drew!" May yelled in a hushed tone to prevent Elliott from waking up. "If we're going to try to get back to the way we were before, then at least get my name right."

He sighed as he placed the last picture up on the wall. "Fine, I'll get your name right from now on."

"Good," May said triumphantly.

"June." This earned Drew a pillow thrown at him and when he turned to look at May, he came into contact with another pillow. The brunette had a smirk playing on her lips and ducked when Drew tossed one at her.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You throw like a girl, _Andrew,_" she taunted, completely unaware of the smirk on his lips.

Before the petite brunette could react, she was tackled to the couch by Drew. When she opened her eyes, he was right on top of her, smirk still plastered on his face. "Nobody says I throw like a girl and get away with it," he said in a dangerous tone.

"Oh, I'm so scared. What is Drew Hayden going to do?"

Drew leaned down towards her, smirk still visible. May's sapphire orbs widened as she saw that evil glint in his eyes. Right when she was about to say something else, he captured her lips with his own, shocking her. Slowly though, May gave into the kiss and returned it to him with her arms wrapped around his neck. Just like back then, sparks flew between those two when they kissed and they felt it, even now.

When they ran out of oxygen, they separated with Drew still smirking. "Like I said, nobody says I throw like a girl and get away with it."

May giggled, making his heart flutter. _'It feels nice to hear it again,' _he thought to himself. "And just like I said before, I wasn't scared." She then managed to push him off of her and stood up. "Now if you don't mind, I need to go unpack my things. Try to survive without me, Drew."

He flicked his hair. "Try taking your own advice, June. I'm going to work on a new song if you don't mind. Try to resist my wonderful voice," he boasted.

She simply rolled her sapphire orbs playfully and started to head upstairs with her suitcase, leaving Drew alone in the living room. He started to head for his guitar and went back to the couch, with a notebook and pencil already sitting there, waiting for him.

"It's great to have you back in my life again, May."

* * *

><p>"Dawn just informed me about stalling Gary's wedding date," Misty reported. "I think we should do something to stall."<p>

"I don't know, Mist. I mean, I would love to help and all but Megan is pretty scary when she's mad and I kind of don't want to go through her tortures again…" Ash answered meekly.

The orange haired girl raised an eyebrow at him. "She's tortured you before?"

Her boyfriend nodded. "Yeah, when we were still kids. One of the tortures I remember the most would be the time when I ruined her confession with Gary. She was so mad at me that she found any reason to hit me. She only stopped when both Gary and Leaf confronted her about it. If we try to stall the wedding, she will get mad and blow up."

Misty simply waved it off, as if it wasn't a big deal to her. "Oh come on, Ash. Someone like Megan doesn't scare me. Come on, do you really want Gary to marry someone like her anyway? Don't you want Leaf and Gary to be happy together?" she interrogated.

Ash sighed. "Of course I want them to be happy but I just don't know if this plan will work. Those two are pretty smart and I think they'll figure out what we're doing pretty quickly."

Misty sighed as well and laid her head down on his shoulder. "We can try though. I just don't see Megan and Gary together. They don't fit together," she stated. "I mean, he doesn't even really love her. We both know that his heart belongs to Leaf; it's not fair that he's forgotten about her."

Ash wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "I know it's not fair but we can't do anything about it, Mist. If we don't want those two married then our only option is to try to help Gary remember everything," he explained.

"And that's the problem. Leaf doesn't want us to help him remember. She made us girls promise we wouldn't say anything to him about his past with her and I'm pretty sure she doesn't want you guys to do it as well. We need him to remember on his own or have him fall in love with her all over again."

"That's not happening anytime soon. Gary's already proposed to Megan so I really doubt he'll step down from it," Ash reasoned. "Wait, is he falling for her?"

Misty shook her head sadly. "Oh how I wish that would happen."

The raven haired man, being unable to see her sad face, sighed. "Okay, if it'll make you happy, I'll try to stall the wedding date with the guys. While that happens, you and Dawn can try being friends with Megan and stall her."

Misty smiled up at him. "Since when have you become so smart?" she jokingly asked, making him frown.

"What are you talking about, Mist? I was always a smart guy," he said in a serious tone, causing her to giggle.

"Whatever flows your boat, Ash." And with that, the two spent the day together enjoying their own companies.

* * *

><p>"Okay, Danny, I'm almost home so you can stop with the calling, okay? Okay, bye." Leaf slipped her phone into her pocket and picked up her pace as she returned from her trip from the market. Both her arms were filled with bags with the groceries she bought and she heaved in tiredness as she continued her way home.<p>

Then, from behind her, she heard a small chuckle behind her and turned around, only to find Gary there. "Don't you have a car to drive around in?" he inquired.

She rolled her green eyes. "I'm trying to help the environment here, okay? Besides, it's not a far walk from my house to the market."

He looked around, eyes scanning for the eccentric five year old girl. "Where's Mandy?" he asked as he walked next to her, grabbing a bag from her, despite her protests.

"She's at home. Danny's watching her right now and she's hungry." She laughed at her daughter's appetite with Gary chuckling along. "Are you done with your research already?"

"I'm almost done. I should be returning back to Castelia in about a week or so," he explained. He then looked up at the orange sky, meaning the sun was just about setting. "I really had fun here. I know that we had kind of a bumpy start but I'm glad I met you and Mandy."

_There I was again tonight_

_Forcing laughter, faking smiles_

_Same old tired lonely place_

Leaf smiled softly at the comment. "…Yeah, I feel the same way." She looked down and noticed something around his wrist. Something she didn't expect to see after so long. "That wristband…" she murmured.

Gary quickly caught onto what she meant and lifted his wrist closer to him. "Oh, this, I don't really know how I got it. I just woke up one day and Megan told me it was important to me so I just kept it and continued wearing it." Leaf eyed the brown leather wristband carefully. _'It can't be the same one, can it?' _

_Walls of insincerity,_

_Shifting eyes and vacancy_

_Vanished when I saw your face_

_All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you_

"Do you know who it's from?"

He shook his head sadly. "I don't know, actually. I just wear it, hoping one day that person will show up, that this will help me get my memories back." He then smiled sadly. "It sounds stupid, doesn't it?"

"No, it doesn't sound stupid at all," Leaf said. At now, the two had suddenly slowed down their pace. "Do you think that person was important to you?"

"Yeah, I really think that person was important to me. I don't know how to explain it but whenever I wear this wristband, everything just seems okay. It's like I can't go on a day without it, you know?"

Leaf thought back to her leaf necklace, which she still had, and remembered that she always had to wear it. "Yeah, I understand what you mean."

Then, a flock of birds flew above them and they both looked up, taking in the amazing view. Village Bridge wasn't really known for the birds that flew around so whenever a flock flew by, it would be an amazing scenery.

_Two teens, at the age of fourteen, had just broke away from a kiss and a flock of birds hovered above them. They looked at each other and smiled at each other. "It's beautiful!" the girl exclaimed excitingly. _

_The boy chuckled. "Beautiful just like you."_

_Your eyes whispered "Have we met?"_

_Across the room your silhouette_

_Starts to make its way to me_

_The playful conversation starts_

_Counter all your quick remarks_

_Like passing notes in secrecy_

_The girl simply giggled. "You're so cheesy. Go get some better pick up line," she teased. _

Gary shook his head again and he stared down at the woman who was walking right beside him. The brunette noticed his eyes burning onto the side of her face and grimaced at him. "Is something wrong?"

"I've seen you before." Leaf's jade orbs widened as she heard those words leave his mouth and took a sudden interest on the ground. "When I was looking around your house that day I arrived, I remember I came across a picture of you and your friends in front of Oak Academy. That's my grandfathers' school. I'm his grandson, so we must have met some point back then."

Leaf bit her bottom lip. "I was just a student there, you were the popular kids. We've never met." She picked up her speed once again and walked faster.

Gary attempted to smile but failed as he chased after her and stopped in front of her. "Really? Then why is it that the first time I met you, I had a strange feeling of recognition? Also, your reaction when you first saw me wasn't like to a stranger at all. And the way how you convinced me to help Mandy on that parent child day. You understand me more than I know myself, how do you explain that? I've been seeing images of someone too."

The brunette walked around him, slower this time as she thought of an excuse. "So, since you lost your memory, you always have these unrealistic thoughts, asking everybody if they know you-"

"No, it's only with you." Leaf stopped walking and he turned to look at her. "I'm only like this when I'm with you." Gary then proceeded to walk a bit towards her. "There's always a blurry silhouette in my mind and she looks very similar to you. This person must be very important to me," he stated. "I'm trying to remember but I still can't. From that time when we became friends, to the parent child day, to yesterday, to that flock of birds just now, that girl continuously showed up in my mind. Maybe, you know her. Please, if you know her, then take pity on me," he begged. "I don't want to spend my life like an idiot living with a blank memory."

Leaf took a deep breath and looked up from the ground and faced him with a stoic expression. "If you were important to her, wouldn't she have come to look for you already?" she asked, with a bit of anger behind it. Gary on the other hand, frowned. "But she didn't show up, which means that she probably doesn't want you to remember her at all. Can't you just let it go? You have a fiancée, and in just a few months, you'll be married. Why do you continue dwelling in the past? It's not worth it."

Gary looked skeptically at Leaf. "Not worth it? Don't tell me that how you forgot about Mandy's father." Leaf held her breath at the mention of him. "You once said that if you two were to meet up, you would just treat him like a stranger and pass by. Is it because of those three words?" He caught her eyes and connected his with hers. "Leaf Green, let me ask you one more time and answer me honestly. Do we know one another?"

* * *

><p>Outside of the Green's gate stood a tall brunette. She debated whether or not to go in and then decided to go in. She walked up to the doors of the house and knocked. Mandy opened the door and stared confusingly at the woman. "Who are you?"<p>

Before she can say anything, Danny showed up behind the little girl, arms crossed. "You're Gary Oak's fiancée, correct? If you're looking for the owner, she's not home yet. Please wait outside," he spat coldly.

Megan restrained herself from saying anything rude since Mandy was there and simply smiled at him. "Sure."

Mandy, feeling bad for her, looked up at Danny with puppy dog eyes. "Can we let her in? It's cold," Mandy stated.

Danny, not being able to resist the eyes, gave in and allowed Megan in, who had a victorious look on her face.

* * *

><p>"And I'm telling you for the last time. We don't know each other."<p>

The disappointment in Gary's eye's quickly disappeared as he smiled at her. "Well then, we should start getting home then." He sensed Leaf's confusion and clarified it for her. "Even though you're not the girl I'm looking for, we're still friends. So, let's go."

Leaf followed suit behind him and the two talked again, pretending as if nothing had just happened.

_This night is sparkling, don't you let it go_

_I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home_

_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew_

_I was enchanted to meet you_

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><p><strong>Yeah, so my writing is a bit rusty after my two week break so I apologize if you guys didn't like it. BUT, there were flashbacks AND a song, which I do not own! And if you want to know, the song is Enchanted by Taylor Swift. It's such a cute song.<strong>

**So, I have a four day weekend so I'll probably have a chapter of Demon's Flower up by then and maybe a new photoshop artwork so look forward to it! AND I DIDN'T PROOFREAD IT SIMPLY CAUSE I'M TIRED AS HECK SO FEEL FREE TO FLAME ME ON THE MISTAKES. DON'T HATE ME THOUGH. I'LL CHANGE IT.**

**REVIEW guys. I loveee your long reviews so can you guys please continue with them? They motivate me to write faster you know…JUST SAYING! AHAH, sooo, yeah, REVIEW, POLL, and check out my new artworks! They took me forever to do! **


	13. Love Rivals are Forever

**Hey guys, long time no update, huh? I am so sorry about that. I've been so busy lately that I don't even have enough sleep. But my life isn't so important so I'm just going to move on to the more important stuff now. **

**Thank you all so much for the reviews! I was so happy to read your beautiful long reviews and I had a great time laughing at the hate you guys gave Megan! I'm really glad you all liked the song I added in the end of the chapter! Don't worry guys, Gary will get his memories back soon…A HINT! ;D Anyway, let's get going to the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in any way or the places. I only own the characters you've never heard of! Enjoy!**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Thirteen: Love Rivals Are Forever<strong>_

**Leaf's POV**

The walk back to home was peaceful and the sky was still orange so it was still daytime. We talked as if nothing happened and I enjoyed it. I knew it was wrong to lie to him about us never meeting but I had to. If I told him that we knew each other, even the slightest information, he would want to know more and start questioning me. As much as I wanted him to remember, I don't want him to at the same time because if he did, he'll remember that I left him and he'll hate me. And I'd rather he not remember me than to hate me.

I grimaced at the man talking beside me. He was currently talking about that '_lovely' _fiancée of his and I wasn't so interested so I tuned him out. Gary, you haven't changed a bit, have you? Your hair was still in its spiky untamable way and your green eyes still had that meaningful glint. A small smile managed to creep on my face and it didn't go unnoticed by him either.

"Is there something on my face?" he asked confusingly.

I giggled. It's been a while since that happened. "No, you just remind me of him."

Upon hearing this he chuckled. "Is he as good looking as I am? I bet he isn't."

For some reason, this made me laugh. I don't know why, but it felt great to laugh again, especially when it was him who made me laugh. "No, he was very good looking." I smiled as memories of us together flashed through my mind.

Gary probably noticed that smile and smiled as well. "You still love him, don't you?" I didn't get to say anything in response as he continued. "I know you said that if you two were to meet up again, you'd treat him as a stranger, but it still doesn't change the fact that you still love him. It's not easy forgetting your first love, you know."

For some reason, I nodded. I don't know what was wrong with me; I then decided to pick my pace a little more. I was getting close to spilling out the secret. "We should hurry up. It's getting late and I still have a lot to do."

Gary tried to say something but by the time that happened, we were already at the gate and noticed that a car was parked in front of the house. Huh, that's strange. Who would be visiting us? I mean, the car didn't belong to either Dawn or Misty. Gary didn't seem to notice though since he already opened the gate through. "Come on, Leaf," he called as he held it open for me.

I smiled at that scene as I remembered that he used to do that a lot of times and walked through the gates before he can squeeze another question in. "You smiled a lot today, you know that?" he commented.

I playfully rolled my eyes and punched him lightly on the arm. "Oh, shut up. Do you think it's ugly or something?"

He rolled his eyes playfully back and me before answering, "No, you have a beautiful smile."

"Well, it runs in the family," I retorted casually, smirk plastered on my face.

He chuckled softly and we walked back to the house, making small jokes about each other. It felt like old times again when we were kids. It was like our routine…

Just right when we entered the front door, Mandy ran to me, causing me to lose my balance. I was about to fall over until an arm wrapped around my waist and held onto me firmly. I looked back to see Gary carrying the bag he was helping me carry with in his left arm while his right arm held onto me. Our little moment was ruined though when someone else walked into the room with Danny behind. When I saw her, my stomach dropped as she gave me a death glare.

"Megan, this isn't what it looks like," Gary said, trying to explain himself. "She almost fell over so I had to catch her."

"Of course, we wouldn't want her to fall and hurt herself now do we?" she stated in a tone that clearly meant 'you should've just let her fall.' She then gave me a fake smile as I straightened myself out and offered me her hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you. You must be the landlady he's staying with. I'm Gary's fiancée Megan Tanner."

I took her hand and noticed that her nails were starting to dig into my skin. Jeez, talk about holding a grudge. "I'm Leaf Green; it's nice to meet you." Once those words left my mouth, I immediately let go of her hand since my hand was starting to go numb.

Everything soon went silent and Mandy started to get annoyed so she dragged Gary to go play with her while Danny took his leave. I have to remember to talk to him about this later. So that meant it was just me and Megan. Since I hated the silence, I just proceeded to move to the kitchen with the food and started to put the food away.

"So are you planning to stay overnight?" I asked as nicely as I can.

"I guess," she sneered. "Just make something low-carb, okay? I have to keep this figure so I'll be able to fit my wedding dress." She smirked when she said that and I simply continued stocking up the cabinets. "Can you believe it, Leafy? He's finally come to his senses and proposed to me."

I sighed in annoyance. She really knew how to rub things in peoples' faces. "Don't call me Leafy, Megan. And the only reason why he proposed was because you brainwashed him to be yours."

"Aw, are you jealous? It's okay. Not everyone can get someone like Gary."

By now, I was already passed pissed but I couldn't say anything. Not with Gary and Mandy in the house. I got the needed food for tonight and started chopping on the tomatoes. "Look, I'm busy right now so just go and make out with your precious fiancée. Unless you want to help out. You know, if you know how to cook. You do know how to cook right?"

She nearly growled at me and I inwardly smirked at her. One for Green and zero for Tanner. I noticed that she muttered some words and then decided to leave. When she was out of an earshot, a single teardrop ran down my face as I tried to push the rest back. "Be strong, Leaf," I told myself. "He doesn't remember you anymore. He's different now. Just let him go."

* * *

><p><strong>Normal POV<strong>

"So, I have gathered that Megan already chose her dress," Dawn announced grinning. "And I'm going to tell that person that I'm going to design her dress."

"Then won't it come out good?" Misty inquired confusingly.

The bluenette shook her head. "Nope, she's probably going to have to look over the design so I'll just have to make it as ugly as I can and hopefully it'll take up some time. While that happens, Paul and Ash will trash the decorations."

"Remind me again why we have to trash the decorations. You do realize that if that happens she'll murder us, right?" Paul stated flatly.

"Oh stop exaggerating," Dawn said. "It's not going to be that bad. She's gone for at least two days so it should be enough time to do all that, okay?"

"Wait," Ash started before swallowing. "How are we going to ruin the decorations if we can't get them?"

Dawn giggled and Misty simply rolled her eyes at her younger friends' excitement. "I already got that covered." From behind her, she pulled out a bag full of items Megan had ordered for the wedding. "I've gotten some sneaky people to get these from her house and don't worry, they didn't get caught."

She tossed the bag in front of them and they stared at it. Ash then turned to Paul. "Dude, your girlfriend is scary. Remind me to never piss her off," he commented.

That earned him a punch on the head from the grumpy plum head. "You earned that one all on your own, idiot."

Ash turned to Misty, hoping his girlfriend would do something to help him out. Instead she just smirked at him and shook her head. "You did just make fun of Dawn, Ash; I think you kind of deserved it." Upon seeing his shocked face that she would say something like this, she laughed.

"How can you do this to me, Misty?"

The two girls giggled and shook their heads. "Your days are never boring, are they, Misty?" Dawn inquired in between her laugh.

The orange haired woman shook her head. "With a goofball like him, never."

* * *

><p>"Mommy, can we call Mandy now?" the little boy asked yet again.<p>

May sighed. He'd asked the whole day and the brunette had told him many times Mandy had school and such and that he had to wait until nighttime. Now that it was nighttime, he wanted her to call the little girl and it was starting to annoy Drew.

"Just call the little girl, June." Of course, this earned him a hit on the face with the pillow from the fuming brunette.

Elliott, seeing that his mother was mad, held onto her hand, catching her attention. "Don't be mad, Mommy. Let's go call Mandy and Mommy will be happier."

May smiled down at her son and played with his hair. "Okay Elliott. It's good that we have one _mature _person in the house," she spat, glaring at Drew. He simply smirked, flicked his hair and waved her off, making her even madder but stayed calm for Elliott's sake.

The mother and son duo went upstairs and May got out her phone. She scrolled in her contacts list and stopped when she came upon Leaf's name. She tapped the call button and waited patiently as it rang. After a while, she picked up. _"Hello, May?"_

"Hey, Leaf. Elliott's been bugging me all day about calling Mandy. Is she available?"

The brunette on the other line looked at her playing daughter with Gary while Megan just sat on the couch, waiting for Gary's attention. Leaf smirked at the scene, of course. It amused her to see her mad. "Mandy," she called, catching her daughter's attention. "Elliott called; did you want to talk to him?"

Upon hearing the little boy's name, she ditched Gary and ran to the phone. From there the two kids talked while Megan finally got to spend her time with Gary. While that happened, Leaf left them and went to the kitchen to clean up. Even though it was already clean, she needed an excuse to get out of the living room if those two were going to act lovey dovey with each other.

"So who's the little girl?"

Leaf turned around only to find the last person she wanted to talk to. "Why do you want to know," she spat coldly.

"Is it Danny's? It's no surprise; I mean he was the one that brought you here when you left Gary, right?" By now, Leaf was clutching tightly onto the rag that was in her hand.

"You know, I would tell you but why would I tell you of all people? You're not worth my breath." With that, she dropped the rag on the counter and walked out of the kitchen, purposely bumping Megan's shoulder out of the way. "Your guest room is with that fiancée of yours. Or you can always sleep on the couch."

"Green," Megan called, causing Leaf to pause at the doorway. "Why didn't you tell him yet? Why didn't you tell him of his past?"

As she said those words, Leaf noticed that it wasn't the snobby she had earlier. Instead, it was full of curiousness and almost sincere.

The brunette gave her an indifferent look. "Because I already saw the engagement on his finger and you already told him that it was you who helped him through everything, so what's the use? He wouldn't believe me anyway. Why do you even care in the first place? Shouldn't you be grateful you finally have him?"

A sad smile made its way to her face. "You're right; I should be grateful. But how can I be happy knowing that he might remember one day?"

Leaf let out a mock laugh as she shook her head. "You're asking yourself this question now? You had six years to think about it and you choose now, after being proposed to? If you're scared that he might remember, then you might've as well just have told him everything when he woke up and had me stay. But you didn't. So now if he remembers and hates you, then that just means you deserved it for what you did."

"Not as much as he'll hate you though." The statement made Leaf pause and think about what she had just said. "He'll remember that you left with Danny on the day that he needed you the most and know that Mandy is Danny's child. Won't that make him hate you more than he'll ever hate me?" She smirked evilly and crossed her arms. "You know it's true too, Leafy." She was about to say more but her phone interrupted the conversation so she excused herself while Leaf went out to the living room again, only to see Mandy still on the phone while Gary was helping her clean the floor from the toys.

The brunette walked over to Mandy and told the little girl to help Gary clean her toys up while she talked to May. The two kids bid their goodbyes and the two adults were on the phone again. Since it was private, Leaf went to her room to talk about it while Mandy stayed downstairs to play with Gary a bit longer.

"That witch of a Megan is here in my house, right now."

May's sapphire orbs widened as she heard those words. _"Did I hear you right or is she really staying with you? Why would you even let her in your house in the first place, Leaf? Are you crazy?" _

"It's not that I wanted to. She was already in the house when I got him. You do not want to know what she did. I'll tell you when you, Misty, and Dawn visit us." Leaf sighed. "So where are you staying at now?"

"_I'm living at Accumula Town now. It's so beautiful here." _May smiled happily. _"I don't know why but I feel like we can be a real family. I mean, Elliott loves Drew already, so it shouldn't be so hard to become a real family."_

"That's great to hear, May. I'm happy for you. Oh, it's past Mandy's bedtime so I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

The two bid goodbyes and Leaf went downstairs only to find that no one was there except for Megan. "Where are Mandy and Gary?"

"He took her up to her room since she was getting tired," she answered coolly. "Okay, what did you tell your friends?"

Leaf looked confusingly at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh don't act like you don't know. That fashion designer of yours offered to design my dress. What's the plan?" When Leaf didn't say anything, it made her even madder. "Don't forget, Leaf. Love rivals are forever."

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><p><strong>So not much happened and I'm so sorry for that. I DID NOT PROOFREAD IT CAUSE I'M TIRED AS HECK RIGHT NOW SO FEEL FREE TO TELL ME MY MISTAKES PLEASE.<strong>

**Read my new story, guys. It's called Of Bandits and Assassins and I really want some feedback on it so, review that as well?**

**Review please? Again, I love your long reviews so I wouldn't mind getting some more you know ^_^ Well, not much to say this week so until next time. Byee.**


	14. Nobody Said It Was Easy

**Oh my god, you guys are probably really mad at you aren't you? It's been almost a month since I last updated and I feel so guilty. I just had a really busy month. One week I had a Spanish project, then the week after I had an English research paper, then the third week, I had like so much homework, and just this week, I had my high school exit exam. It's so stupid since I'm not even graduating until two years later. The saddest part though was finding out that Derek Fisher was traded from the Lakers. I was seriously on the verge of tears when I found out on Thursday, I'm not even kidding. **

**I'M BACK THOUGH! Thank you all so much for reviewing last chapter and I even reached 300 reviews, yay! It's all thanks you guys and your wonderful reviews. I would love to thank Sum-a-dum-dum for being the 300****th**** reviewer and I decided that for every hundredth reviewer, I shall write a one-shot for them of any couple of the choice that I approve of. **

**So let's get started. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in any way. I only own the people you've never heard of before. **

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Fourteen: Nobody Said It Was Easy<strong>_

The next day, the bluenette happily made her way to her office. She first stopped by her secretary's desk and asked her if she had any calls only to be informed that she had someone waiting in her office. Dawn found it weird since someone would just go into her office like that when even Paul couldn't go in unless she was there. She frowned and thanked her secretary before heading straight to her office. Once she entered, she was greeted with a certain blond she hasn't seen in a while.

"Vanessa," she murmured darkly.

The smirking blonde looked away from her nails and narrowed her sharp blue eyes at Dawn. "Well look who it is. It's the girl who stole my Paul away from me."

The bluenette rolled her cobalt eyes. "Please, Paul left you because you were being an annoying brat. Anyone would leave you." Upon saying that, Dawn mentally patted herself on the back for the comment. In return, Vanessa glared at her. "What do you want here?" Dawn asked, annoyed. She just wanted the blond to leave as soon as possible.

"I heard that you canceled Megan's dress and I don't remember her telling me that. Oh, and if you're confused, I'm her maid of honor so she tells me everything."

The bluenette stood there for a minute or so as she was soaking in the information the blond had just told her when it hit her. "Wait, maid of honor. Then that means you're walking down the aisle with Paul?"

The smirk continued to play on Vanessa's lips. "Oh, he told you that he was Gary's best man but he didn't tell you who he was walking down the aisle with? Oh, that's sad. You know if the other person keeps a secret that means you're relationship is going to go down the drain." The blond then stood up and walked around the table and stopped in front of Dawn. "Megan told me about her dress. She tried to call and get her dress back but apparently, it's been destroyed. She expects her dress to be perfect, got that?"

"Funny that you brought it up. I already got the design down. Would you like to see it or would you want to wait for the _lovely_ bride to see it?" Dawn reached into her bag and took out her sketchbook before opening it to her latest design.

Vanessa leaned in to look at the dress. In the sketchbook was a strapless pearl white lightweight gazaar and silk crepe sheath with a corset bodice completed with an asymmetrically draped skirt. Dawn smiled at her work and waited for Vanessa's opinion of it. "Well, is she going to like it?"

She narrowed her eyes up at the bluenette and took out her phone. "I would have to send her a picture of it first." She snapped a picture of the drawing and sent it to Megan. Within two minutes, she got a response back her approval. "She likes it and she wants it to be made soon so she can try it on and have it altered."

"Okay, sure, whatever." Dawn proceeded to walk to her chair and set her sketchbook down on her table. "Now if you don't need anything else, then leave. I still have some designs to finish up."

Vanessa only glared at the bluenette and made her way to the door. Just when she was about to walk out, she stopped and looked back at Dawn. "Oh and tell Paul that I had a great time last night." And with that, she was out the door and out of the building.

Dawn sat on the chair with a broken pencil in front of her as she glared at the door. "That damn brat," she mumbled under her breath. "There's no way Paul would go back to her, right?" She looked down at the sketchbook and then at the phone. Her hand reached slowly to her phone but stopped herself. "No, Paul would never go back to someone like her. She's just trying to get to you, Dawn."

After calming down from the conversation she just had, Dawn smirked to herself as she turned to a different page in her sketchbook with a completely hideous dress drawn on. "Oh how you would be in a huge surprise, Megan."

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><p>That night, she drove to the guys' house and used the key she had to enter. Luckily Ash was out with Misty on a date so he wouldn't hear their conversation. She entered and found Paul in the kitchen making himself something to eat. "Troublesome," he greeted when he saw her standing at the doorway of the kitchen.<p>

"When were you going to tell me?" she started. Before Paul can ask anything else, she continued. "When were you going to tell me about walking down the aisle with that brat of a Vanessa?" she interrogated.

"How did you find out?"

The bluenette crossed her arms across her chest. "She was in my office today and told me about it." When her boyfriend didn't say anything, it ticked her off. "You should've told me, Paul. I would've reacted way more differently than I am right now. Why didn't you tell me? Was it because you think I would be mad?"

Paul sighed and took a seat on one of the chairs. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you. You would react like this. We are just walking down the aisle, that's all, nothing more."

"Are you sure that's all? No cheating at all?" Although Dawn knew it was wrong to ask him questions like that, she had to. She suddenly felt insecure.

"You think I would cheat on you?" he asked. Although it was in monotone, a hint of hurt was heard from his question. When Dawn didn't say anything, he sighed again and ran his fingers through his hair. "You know I would never do that."

"I know that," she said in a mere whisper. She was feeling guilty for even thinking of such thing and now she wished she could just take that back. She felt like running out of the house but she wouldn't do that. She was going to fix this situation. "She just made me feel insecure about it."

"Its okay, Troublesome."

Upon hearing her nickname, she looked at him, a small hopeful smile on her face as she made her way to him and took a seat in front of him. "I'm sorry for what happened just now, Paul. I guess I was just mad that you didn't tell me about walking down the aisle with her."

He smirked as he held her hand. "I don't blame you for being mad. Just don't ever accuse me of doing something like that again."

Dawn giggled slightly. "I won't, don't worry." She sighed. "I thought crashing this wedding would be easy, but I guess I was wrong, huh?"

Her boyfriend just shook his head. "No one said it was going to be easy."

* * *

><p>"Okay, so I was thinking that we can ruin her gift favors so she would have to re-order them again and this will extend the wedding more," Misty suggested as she sat on the blue plaid blanket with Ash while they were on their late night picnic date.<p>

"What is she going to give out as party favors?" her raven haired boyfriend inquired as he was chewing his food.

This resulted in him getting a hit on the head with her mallet. "Don't talk with your mouth full. It's rude," she instructed. "Anyway, I went through the bag Dawn gave us and it turns out she's putting like three pieces of Belgium chocolate in those boxes for each person. My plan is we keep those chocolates and get her those cheap candies."

"Can I eat all the fancy chocolates then?"

She sighed in annoyance as she kept telling herself now to beat him up. Oh how tempting it was for her to do so. The most damage she had ever done was hitting him with a mallet. "No, Ash. We are going to split it to our friends, okay?"

He pouted as he heard those words and was about to continue on with his whining but something cut him off. "Oh my gosh, Ash, is that you?"

The two couples both turned to their left, only to find a certain brunette they thought they'd never see again. She had her hands on her hips and smirked at a glaring Misty. She then strutted her way over to Ash.

"It's been a while since I've last seen you, Ashy. You've gotten a lot better looking," she flirted. Misty was completely ignored, enraging the young woman even more.

Misty tapped her on the shoulder and when she turned around, the brunette was facing an annoyed Misty. "Excuse me, but that's my boyfriend you're flirting with. I would like it very much if you would stop with it because he doesn't seem comfortable with it."

Melody turned back to Ash, only to find him gone. The two women looked around for him and ended up finding him on a branch of the tree the picnic was held at. "See, you scared him so much that he climbed up to a tree." She then turned up to Ash. "Come on, Ash, if you're so scared, then let's leave," she called up.

He quickly obliged to Misty and hopped off the branch, landing perfectly before helping Misty pack up the things and put them back in the basket. Before they left though, Ash turned back to Melody. "Did you want anything before? If you don't need anything then don't bother me anymore," he said in all seriousness.

The brunette was speechless at first but found her voice again. "Oh, yeah, I did have to inform you something. Your friend, Gary's, fiancée called me today and told me that I'm going to be on of her bridesmaid and since you're one of his groomsmen, then that means we'll be walking down the aisle together!"

The two couple stared at her in shock, mouths agape. "Wait," Misty started before Ash could say anything about it. "How do you even know Megan in the first place?"

"She's a childhood friend, duh. Megan, Vanessa, Veronica, Brianna, and I are childhood friends, actually. Anyway, Ash, I'll be seeing you next week or so when we practice walking down the aisle. I'll be looking forward to it." She gave him a wink and he paled. She turned back to Misty again. "Oh, you're not invited, right?"

Misty smirked at her. "Of course I'm invited. I'm Gary's friend. I'm just not a bridesmaid because I'm not as close to that Megan than you are. Besides, your dresses are pink. I'd rather die than be seen wearing that color."

"Of course you would." Then her phone rang and she picked it up.

Misty and Ash took this chance to run, so they did. They ran until they got to the car and drove off as quickly as they could before Melody can catch up.

"This is not going to be as easy as we think it will be," Misty sighed.

* * *

><p>In Lacunosa Town, everyone in town was asleep, except for one. In her house, she sat on her couch, staring at the phone, debating whether or not she should call him or not. It has been weeks since they had met up and she had been thinking if she should forgive him or not. On her lap was a photo album. She had flipped through it numerous of times already and each time she looked through them; the more she wanted to forgive him.<p>

She finally made up her mind and sighed. She picked up the phone and called the number she knew all too well. She waited as it rang and was ready to hang up when he picked up. **"Hello, Karen?"**

"I've made up my mind, Steve." Even without seeing him, she felt him smile from the other line. "But there is one exception."

"**Well what is it? I'll do it, just tell me." **It was obvious he wanted his family back and it made Karen smile.

"I want you to apologize to both Drew and May. They deserve that from what you did to them years ago. I also…" She hesitated with what she was going to say next but managed to say it anyway. "I also want you to meet your grandson."

It was quiet on the other line for a while as Steve was still trying to absorb the news.** "G-grandson? Since when?"**

Karen smiled at his astonishment. "That's right, a grandson. He arrived here six years ago when May went to Village Bridge. He looks a lot like Drew, you know."

"**Well, any son of Drew is a grandson of mine. Would you mind coming with me when I apologize to them? It would be nice to have you there as well."**

"I would love to."

"**Okay, we'll go this Saturday. Now get some rest, Karen, it's late."**

She giggled slightly and sighed in content. "Okay, you too, Steve, good night."

And with that, they hung up. She smiled at the phone. "Maybe, we can be a family once again."

* * *

><p>That following morning, May was getting Elliott ready for school while Drew was making them breakfast. When they were done, they came downstairs and were instantly attracted to the amazing aroma going around the house. They both ran to the kitchen and took their seats as they waited for their food to be served.<p>

"I'm not your slave you know," Drew commented when he placed a plate of chocolate chip pancakes in front of May. He then proceeded to place a smaller pile of pancakes in front of Elliott. "You're still a kid, you shouldn't eat that much," he said when Elliott gave him a look that asked for more.

May stuck her tongue out at him as he took his seat with his share of breakfast. "Well you're the man of the house so you should be taking care of us."

He only nodded at her as he took a sip of his coffee. "Are you even listening to me?" she inquired angrily. He nodded again.

Elliott, sensing that his father would get hit, changed the subject. "Mommy, you should eat faster or Elliott will be late for school."

May, not wanting to argue with her son, merely obliged to her son and ate her breakfast, completely ignoring a smirking Drew. "So you listen to a little boy, but not me? That's just sad," he commented.

From under the table, the brunette kicked his leg, making him yelp out in pain. Elliott gave him a weird look. "Is Daddy okay?" he asked May.

May only nodded. "Don't worry, Elliott. That's Daddy's voice exercise. Now eat up and we'll be off to school, okay?" She smirked when she saw his glare at her and continued eating her pancakes in glee.

After half an hour, they were done and May helped Elliott with his shoes while Drew was preparing for his next interview. "Who is it for today?" the brunette inquired.

He looked at his schedule. "I'm having an interview with Ellen today." He groaned. "It is not going to fun interview today."

May giggled. "In that case, I'll be sure to catch the show."

He just flicked his hair. "Don't worry, I won't let her make a fool out of me. I am Drew Hayden after all."

She playfully rolled her eyes. "Oh whatever, Drew." She stood up and grabbed Elliott's hand. "Let's go now, Elliott."

* * *

><p>"So Drew, rumors have it that you've found someone already and she already moved in with you. Want to give us any information?" Ellen asked. The blond leaned in to hear his answer.<p>

"Um, I guess that most basic information would be that she was a member of Heartbeat. I guess it's pretty obvious from there since back then, a lot of people saw us together," he explained with a slight smile.

May, watching this from home, smiled as he mentioned her. Since Elliott was at school, she decided to watch Drew on television before getting down to cleaning the house a bit.

She nodded. "I'm very happy for you, Drew. But what happened to your old girlfriend, Brianna?"

Upon hearing her name, he waved her name off as if it meant nothing to him. "She wasn't the one for me. To be honest, I just never liked her so there isn't any story of us, sorry Ellen."

"Oh Dreeeeew," an all too familiar voice called.

The brunette at home sweat dropped when she heard it and her blood started to boil just by hearing her voice. "What the hell, I thought she was gone from his life," she commented. "Don't tell me she's been stalking him like a crazy fan girl."

In the studio, Drew turned around only to face someone he wasn't really interested in seeing. "B-Brianna?"

She waved crazily at him and ran over to where he was sitting at. "Uh, you're not even supposed to be in this show," Ellen noted.

"Well my daddy said that I show up on this show or he buys it," she sneered. And with that, she plopped herself down on the seat next to Drew, ignoring the fact that he needed his personal space.

"Uh, we'll be right back," Ellen said to the camera before they went off air. She stood up and went in front on Brianna. "Look, I don't care what your father says. You weren't scheduled for today, so you should get out now before I make you leave."

The redhead stayed stubborn and just sat there as Drew went up to get a drink. "No, I'm staying here and that's final."

Drew sighed as he heard the argument between the two women. He decided to walk there to confront Brianna. "What do you want, Brianna? I still have fifteen minutes left on this show and I don't want you here to ruin it."

"Well, I don't know if your friend Gary informed you yet, but I'm one of Megan's bridesmaids and since you're one of his groomsmen, I'll be walking down the aisle with you. That's just in case you didn't know yet because we're going to be rehearsing next week."

Drew's face paled and he was speechless. "What?"

"You heard me, Drewy, so that's all I had to do so I'll see you soon, bye." She blew him a kiss as she made herself to the door. Drew just stood there, mouth agape.

"What?" he repeated.

* * *

><p>"Okay, Megan, what's your problem?" Leaf asked that morning when she was out at the yard. Gary and Mandy were currently playing inside the house.<p>

She turned and looked at Leaf with an innocent look. "Why, whatever do you mean, Leaf?"

The green eyed brunette narrowed her eyes at her. "Don't you dare act innocent here, Megan. Dawn and Misty called me and told me about everything. You're trying to get back at me for what they're doing by calling your little lackeys for help, right? That's just low, even for you. How can Gary fall for someone like you?"

"They're getting what they deserve." Megan's glare matched up with Leaf. "They're ruining my wedding, so I'm going to ruin their relationships."

"Then talk it over maturely. Oh, wait, nevermind, I forgot you're not a very mature person."

"You better watch that mouth of yours, Green," Megan warned darkly.

Leaf only glared at her, infuriating Megan even more. This resulted her to stomp back inside the house and went up to Gary, who was finished playing with Mandy. "Gary, when are you leaving this place?"

He shrugged as he looked at his half written report. "I don't know, maybe by next week, why?"

She crossed her arms and pouted. "I want to go back today."

Gary glanced at her in surprise. "Well if you want to go back, then go back. I just thought you liked this place since you kept talking about it."

Megan only grimaced back at Leaf, who was leaning against the doorway, and shot her a glare. "No, I want you to come back with me."

"What, Megan, I can't just leave my research like that. I still have much more to do. Look, if you want to go back to Castelia, then feel free to, but I can't ditch my work."

"So you're saying that you would rather choose your work over _me?_ Is that what you're saying?" Her voice had rose and soon, the two had gotten into a full on argument, giving Leaf a free entertainment and smirked.

'Seems like they're not so perfect after all,' she thought in amusement.

Her entertainment was cut short when Mandy came downstairs for a glass of water, only to walk in on the two arguing. She quickly went to her daughter and brought her into the kitchen, acting as if they weren't there. "Are they okay?" she inquired when they arrived into the kitchen.

Leaf nodded and handed her daughter her water. "Yes they are, Mandy. They just didn't agree on some things so they're talking it over, that's all." She then noticed a paper in her daughter's hand and was suddenly interested. "What's that, Sweetie?"

Mandy noticed her mother referring to her drawing and placed her water down to show it to her. "Mandy drew this for Uncle Gary. Because he told Mandy he will go back on Tuesday so Mandy drew him a picture to bring back with him so he can never forget about us."

Leaf took the paper and smiled at it. There was a picture of the three of them, outside being the setting, and they were all smiling. Leaf couldn't help but giggle at it when she stared at it longer. Mandy, being curious, looked over at her drawing. "Is something funny about it, Mommy?"

She shook her head. "No, it's very pretty, Mandy." She perked her ear when she heard that the arguing had stopped and got an idea. "Why don't you give this to Uncle Gary right now, Mandy? It might make him very happy when he see's it, you know."

The little girl nodded in agreement and made her way back to the living room, only to find Gary in there by himself. He was leaning back on the couch, hands on his face. Mandy ran up to him and pushed him lightly by his leg, catching his attention. "Here you go, Uncle Gary. Mandy drew this for you."

He accepted the drawing and looked it. Gary couldn't help but smile when he saw the picture. He looked down at Mandy and tousled her hair. "It's very nice, Mandy. Thank you."

She flashed him a cheeky grin and soon, Leaf joined them, sitting next to Gary with Mandy on her lap. "So are you and Megan okay? I mean, that seemed like a really intense argument."

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "We're fine, it's just, we've never fought like this before. I don't know, maybe it's too soon for us to get married."

Leaf looked at him. She wanted to do something to help the two but inside, she really didn't want to. It made her feel guilty for not wanting to. "…Are you going back to Castelia with her?"

He shrugged. "I guess I am. Not today though, I want to spend one more day with Mandy." Upon saying that, he smiled down at the little girl. "And this would probably be the last time we'll see each other. Unless you're going to help out with the decorations like your friends."

Leaf shook her head. "No, I don't think your fiancée would want my help, its fine. Um, I guess I should go and let you and Mandy spend some time together."

And with that, she placed Mandy next to Gary and headed upstairs to her room, only to be stopped by Megan. "I've won, Leaf. He's going to go back with me tomorrow and we're going to get married, and you won't steal him anymore."

The brunette frowned upon hearing it. "What do mean, steal him? I've never stolen him from you. You never even had him from the start."

"Well I have him now. And I'm not going to let you get any closer to him than you are now. Got that, Leafy?"

Megan then proceeded to walk back to her room, leaving Leaf there. She looked down at Gary, who was enjoying his time with Mandy, and sighed. "Sorry Megan, but your wedding will have to wait just a little longer because I'm joining your decorating crew." And with that, she grabbed her phone and called Dawn.

"Hello, Dawn? Yeah, did you need help with the decorations?"

* * *

><p><strong>Eh, I'm rusty, I know. I did make this a long chapter though so I hope it made up for my one month long disappearance! I'm so tired, so you all better appreciate what I do for you! AND, I also made Gary and Megan fight so it should make you guys happy for a while. I really need to sleep, cause it's gonna be the to year anniversary since the day I met my best guy friend and he promised to get me food so I'm excited. LOL.<strong>

**OOH, and the idea of the girls coming back belongs to ElsieLorraine, She gave me the idea of them returning so here it is! c: **

**Review guys! I would love to read your amazing long reviews because they would really motivate me. So, review and I shall update as soon as possible. Byee.**


	15. The Bracelet

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, guys. I've been really tired and school is seriously weighing me down, I'm not even kidding. So much has been going on and I'm just glad that this hectic week is finally over.**

**Thank you all for reviewing last chapter! I had to think about this chapter a little before I had to start though. Because I could have turned it one way or another but I decided that it was right about time that our Leaf starts her first day of decoration committee and there will be a huge event happening. Oh, speaking of which, most of this chapter will be written in her point of view and will be changed back to normal like way later, just a heads up. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I only own the characters you've never met before. **

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Fifteen: The Bracelet<strong>_

That following day, Mandy watched sadly as she stood at the doorway of Gary's guest room. He was packing his clothes and when he caught her standing there, he smiled sadly at her. What was I doing? I was standing afar, watching my daughter as she watched her unknown father pack up and leave. Her green eyes were so sad, I felt helpless. I wanted to tell her the truth, but she would be questioning me everything about it. And I was certainly not ready to tell her that he had forgotten about me because of a surgery.

I felt my phone vibrate and looked at the caller before taking my leave. I made sure I told Mandy to stay put though. After a few minutes on the phone, I returned back, only to see Mandy giving Gary a hug. I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned around.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

I nodded and led the way to the kitchen. We took a seat on the chairs and I looked outside. Megan was out in the living room reading a book so I couldn't talk there, so kitchen it was.

"Are you ever going to tell him Mandy's his daughter?" Danny questioned in a hushed tone.

I shook my head sadly and looked out at the floor. "I wish I could, Danny, but he's not going to believe me," I responded in a hushed tone. "Besides, he's getting married soon. It'd be better for all of us if he didn't know."

He frowned and placed a hand over mine. "Leaf, don't lie to yourself. You still love him, don't you?"

I sat quietly as I tried to think of a way to respond politely. Although I never really admitted it, I still loved him. "Is it that obvious?"

Danny smiled slightly. "It's not that hard to tell, you know? It's been really easy to read you lately, you know?" He then shifted his attention to Megan and frowned at her. "Are you really going to let her win? If you let her win, then you're not the Leaf I know."

I smirked at that and grinned up at him. "I forgot to tell you, I've joined the decoration committee with the girls, so guess who's going to be decorating that chapel of hers?"

The man who sat across from me simply shook his head upon hearing it, but approval was definitely in his eyes. "Maybe you're the same Leaf I once knew," he teased. "What are you going to do with Mandy? The girls are going to be 'decorating' with you and I have to help my mother watch her shop so I can't go with you."

I thought about this for a while. That was true. I'm going to be busy with the girls and the guys are going to be busy with the rehearsals. Great, I should've thought this over before going with it. Oh, wait, I know who. "I can ask Professor Oak," I announced. "No, I can't, then I would have to tell him she's Gary's child. I guess maybe, whoever is going to watch Elliott can watch Mandy as well."

"Well, I can't really say anything, but good luck, Leaf." Danny squeezed my hand. "You're like a sister to me, Leaf. It probably sounds weird since we went out before but I realized you're more of a sister to me, so if you ever need anything, just ask."

I smiled and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, Danny."

We were soon interrupted when we heard footsteps and I stood up, only to find Mandy and Gary walking in. "I'm going now," he announced at the doorway with Megan behind him, luggage in hand.

I walked over to grab Mandy's hand and walked her outside the lawn with the others following behind us. When we were outside, I bent down to her height and looked her in the eyes. "It's okay to cry, Mandy. You don't have to hold it in."

I didn't know if they noticed, but my little girl was definitely trying to hold in her tears and although she was good enough to fool the others, she could never fool an expert like me.

She shook her head. "No, Mandy is not going to cry. Mandy's a big girl."

I sighed. There it was again, the tears. She was trying way too hard to push them back and the more she did it, the more she started to sound like she was going to cry. I looked at her sadly and gazed up at Gary, who was looking at Mandy with pity. At that moment, I felt like I was going to spill out everything about Mandy to him but I stopped. If I told him, Megan would only come up with a lie and ruin that little piece of friendship we built up in the weeks he'd been here. And I didn't want to lose that tiny piece of friendship we had.

I noticed that tears were starting to well up in my eyes so I quickly wiped them off and stood up, turning to the rest. "I need to go make a call right now. It was nice meeting you, Gary. Why don't you and Mandy give your goodbyes."

And with that, I left before any of them could say anything. I quickly walked inside and once I made it in, my legs finally gave in and I collapsed down to the floor, leaning against the closed door. My tears silently rolled down my face as I thought about the possible outcome that would've happened if I hadn't left him on the day of the surgery.

Once I composed myself, I looked out the window from inside. I was afraid that if I stepped outside I would probably cry again. Outside I saw my little girl hugging Gary, finally letting her tears out while Gary, who I couldn't see, looked like he was trying to keep his pride. Just from seeing that made me want to tear up already. I discreetly opened the door slightly, just enough to hear what they were saying, and stood there to hear.

"Danny," Gary started. He must've been done with his goodbye for Mandy. "Take care of them, mother and daughter. And spend time with Mandy for me. She may not have a father-figure in her life, but I'm hoping you're willing to fill up that void."

I started to peer outside the door and saw that Mandy was now standing besides Danny, hands covering her eyes while Megan was in the front seat of the car, waiting to leave. Gary looked down at Mandy and bent down to her level again, pulling her hands away from her face.

"Hey, don't cry. You don't look nice when you cry, you know," he teased lightly, hoping it'll cheer her up.

"A-are you going to forget about me, Uncle Gary?" she sobbed.

He smiled and shook his head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sticky note paper before handing it to her. "This is my address," he said. "You can write to me and if you don't know how, you can always draw a picture." When she didn't say anything, he brushed her hair out of her face. "What's wrong? You would usually be happy by now."

She sniffled before tears rolled down her face again. My heart broke when I saw that. "I don't feel happy," she wept before wrapping her arms around Gary again, crying into his shoulder. "Mandy wants Uncle Gary to stay." And from there, she repeated that for a while she sobbed.

Gary, I noticed, was sniffling a little as well and it was obvious he was still trying to hold in his tears. After a few minutes, they let go and he removed the brown leather bracelet from his wrist and wrapped it around Mandy's tiny wrist. "Whenever I'm lonely, I look it and hope that the person who misses me would hear my thoughts and hope that she would come a find me quickly and tell me who I am."

"Did she come yet?" she choked out.

Gary smiled sadly and shook his head. "No, maybe, she doesn't even exist, or I'm not important to her at all. But you're important to me, Mandy. When you miss me, say that you miss me and I'll receive it."

Upon hearing that, tears slid down my face. I knew this would happen when he left, that's why I didn't want them to grow close during his time here. Just watching this made my heart break and I really wished I could've done something to make it all better, but there was nothing I could do. They were father and daughter, there's no bond stronger than that parental bond.

I snapped from my thoughts and peered out to see what was happening. Mandy gave him one last hug while he was rubbing her back and then pulled away as he sniffled. "Mandy, you're such a good kid. It would be great if I had a kid as good and adorable as you." He smiled as he wiped her stray tears away and composed himself, facing Danny. "Promise me you'll take care of her."

Danny nodded. "I will," he confirmed. "You better hurry, your fiancée is waiting for you."

They both glanced back at Megan, who was waiting patiently for him to say his goodbyes. I decided that it was time that I started to go out again, so I did. When I arrived outside, he offered me a smile, to which I returned.

"Take care, Leaf," he said gently. "Don't stress yourself, okay?"

I giggled. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." I gave him a hug and he returned it too. It felt so perfect to have him in my arms again. But this was going to be our final hug. "You should go now."

He nodded and left, giving all of us a wave as he walked to his car. We followed though. We stood at the gate entrance as we watched him get in the car and then, he drove off. It wasn't long for Mandy to break away from Danny's grasp though and chase after the driving car, screaming out 'Uncle Gary' as she tears ran down her face. I quickly broke into a sprint after her and stopped her before she got any further. Although I couldn't exactly tell, Mandy did get pretty close to the car so I was able to see that he also had trouble leaving her. I saw the rearview mirror and saw that strained look on his face.

I held her tightly as she cried into my shoulder. "Just cry it out, Mandy, just cry it out," I repeated over and over. Soon, tears started to roll down my eyes and before I knew it, I was crying into her shoulder as well. Perhaps seeing him leave was harder than I thought it would be. I mean, once he gets back to Castelia, he'll be married and that would mean I lost him forever.

Who am I kidding, I already lost him.

* * *

><p>That night, we ate dinner quietly. Danny had already left early so it was just us two. Usually she would be lively, telling me the events that happened at school or her little wild imagination. But maybe having Gary gone took a big toll on her than I expected. "Do you want to visit Uncle Gary?" I finally asked after a while.<p>

Her eyes instantly went wide and looked at me. "Really, Mommy?"

I nodded and smiled. "I told Aunt Dawn I would help her decorate for his wedding so I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to Castelia."

She nodded fiercely and took out the sticky note he gave her this morning. "Can we go to his house?"

"We'll have to see if he's home, okay?" I picked her dish and placed it in the sink, turning on the water in the process. "Go and play for a while, okay? Or watch some television. I'll call Elliott for you when I'm done with the dishes, okay?"

"Okay," she said happily before running out to the living room.

I couldn't help but smile wide at that. With just one simple request like going down there, she already happy.

I haven't lost you yet, Gary. Just you watch, Megan, I'll get him back. And I intend on keeping him this time.

* * *

><p>That next morning, we left at noon with our stuff. Well the wedding was going to be soon and I can't finish decorating a chapel in one day. I'll just have to stay in with Dawn and Misty. I'm sure they won't mind having me and Mandy stay over for a week or so.<p>

When we arrived, it was already three in the afternoon. I decided to give Dawn a call and she gave me her address. It was planned that I would settle my stuff in first and then we would take off to the chapel. When we arrived, Mandy was more than overjoyed when she saw Elliott. They both started to talk happily to each other while we watched with smiles on our face.

"So you're saying we should just bring our kids with us?" May inquired as we got settled inside Dawn's minivan. "Don't get into trouble, okay?" she ordered gently.

Even though it was for Elliott, they both nodded and sat calmly in the car, telling each other what was happening with their lives.

It wasn't long until we got there. The chapel was beautiful. It had a grand feeling coming out from it and it was obvious why. The chapels' columns were evenly set on both sides and the roof of the chapel itself had graceful carvings carved on. It seems that Megan and Gary really wanted to make this wedding something to remember.

When we walked inside, the bride herself was already there with her groom-to-be along with her bridesmaids and his groomsmen. When Ash saw Misty walked in, he immediately broke into a sprint and ran to her, hiding behind her. "Save me, Mist. Melody's suffocating me!"

We laughed at his fear and shook our heads. "You're unbelievable, Ash," Misty said in between her giggles. "Hurry, she's already giving me the look." And with that, she dragged him the front again. We simply giggled at the sight. If it was anyone who could ever control Ash, it would be our one and only Misty Waterflower.

When they were gone, May and I turned to our kids and brought them to one of the seats. "Here, sit and talk while we go help decorate, okay?" I asked lightly.

"Don't run off," May added.

They nodded and started talking. We figured they would listen to us so we started to head to the front with Dawn. Once we arrived to the front, Megan shot me a look that meant she wanted me to be gone, but I simply smirked and turned to Gary.

"Did I forget to tell you that I was on the decorating committee?"

He smirked back as well. "Well now that you mention it, you did forget. That's not very nice, you know."

"And it's not nice to ignore your fiancée just like that, you know," Megan interjected.

I rolled my eyes at her. She was being way too dramatic about this. If she was jealous, she might have as well just said it.

And so, the decorating began and it must have been the worst one yet. I obviously couldn't do anything to make it bad since they were there so I had to actually put up the decorations that she ordered specifically. She was smarter than I thought.

After a few hours went by, I turned to check on the kids, only to find them missing. I started to panic and alerted May quickly, her reaction the same as mine. We started to look frantically for them and soon, the guys came to us.

"What's wrong?" Gary inquired.

"The kids are gone," May answered anxiously as she looked under a bleacher. "I could've sworn they were just here."

Drew's eyes went wide and started to look as well. "What? How could you have been so careless? You should know that Elliott's attention span is just like yours, you know."

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?"

Drew sighed and flicked his fringe from his face. "I'm just saying he gets distracted easily, like you."

"Can we all just a take break to look for them?" I suggested. "I mean, we've already worked for a while now and we haven't taken a break yet."

They agreed and Gary called a break. Once he said we were on a break, we all split up and searched for the two kids in the large chapel. I headed upstairs, only to hear kids laughter. I hurried my pace as got closer and was relieved to find them upstairs with someone I haven't seen in a while.

"Professor Oak," I called. "It's nice to see you again," I greeted.

"Mommy," Mandy called, catching my attention. "Do you know him?"

I nodded. "Yeah, this is Uncle Gary's grandfather, Professor Oak." I turned to the professor and smiled sheepishly at him. "And this is my daughter, Professor."

It was silent between us for some time as he tried to process what was happening. "Who's the father?"

I gulped as I saw his face. His eyes reflected a sign of betrayal. He probably thought I left his grandson for another man. I couldn't tell him with the kids here though, so I turned to them. "Why don't you two go down and let everyone know you're safe." They nodded and soon, they were on their way downstairs. I turned back to the professor, who was waiting for an answer. "Mandy is Gary's child."

"Y-you mean to tell me you left him when you were pregnant?" he spluttered. "Leaf, why didn't you tell me? I could've done something if I had known so you wouldn't have had to leave."

"I didn't know until I arrived to Village Bridge, though, Professor Oak, honestly," I defended. "Please don't say anything bad, please. I had a reason for leaving six years ago." He crossed his arms, asking for an answer, but I hesitated. "I can't tell you yet. All you have to know is that I didn't have a choice. You have to believe me, Professor."

"….Are you here to take him back?"

I smiled up at him. "You know it. I am not going to lose that easily, Professor Oak. Though trying to get him to remember will be hard..."

He chuckled and hugged me. "Oh, you have no idea how good it is to see you again, Leaf."

"You can't tell Gary that Mandy's his child though," I said seriously when we broke apart. "Because he most likely wouldn't believe it."

"Who do you take me for, Leaf? Of course I'm not going to tell him yet."

"Thank you, Professor Oak."

And with that, we both walked back down to meet the others and continued to decorate.

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><p>It was seven when Gary said it was time to leave. We were so exhausted, especially Misty and Dawn since Megan assigned so many jobs for them. May and I left for the car earlier since Elliott and Mandy took a nap and haven't woke up yet. When Dawn was driving us back to her and Misty's house, I noticed something missing.<p>

The leather bracelet Mandy had around her wrist this afternoon was gone.

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><p><strong>Normal POV<strong>

As Gary was about to head out for his car with Megan, something caught his eye. On the floor under the seat Mandy was on, was the bracelet he gave her. "What's that?" his fiancée asked curiously.

"It's the bracelet I gave Mandy when I left. She must have dropped it earlier."

"You should give it back to her tomorrow morning or something," she suggested. "Now come on, I still have some work to catch up on.

Gary nodded and headed for the door, hand intertwined with hers.

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><p>That night, he examined the bracelet again. As he was looking at it, he smiled. "She probably doesn't even care," he whispered.<p>

He was in his room, with his almost finished report but was distracted at the moment. He then noticed something he hasn't seen since he had it. There was a secret memory card slot and he opened the slot, only to find a memory card in there. Being the curious man he was, Gary inserted it in his laptop and waited for it to be read.

The window for the card opened and he opened the only folder there in the card. He waited patiently for it to open and clicked on a picture. When it did, his breath hitched and he stared at it with wide eyes.

The very picture he had chosen to open up was a picture of him and Leaf smiling happily at the camera. It was the picture of them the day before his operation.

He frowned after some time and looked through the rest while flashbacks were flashing in his head.

"_How are you so sure you're going to live through the operation?" she spat harshly as he held her tightly. _

"_You're going to make it out alive and you'll have a new life waiting for you," she soothed. _

"_So, since you lost your memory, you always have these unrealistic thoughts, asking everybody if they know you."_

"_No, it's only with you," he interjected. "I'm only like this when I'm with you."_

He frowned again as he remembered what she said that night and looked that photo again, focusing on the girl in his arms. "That's her." His hands started shake uncontrollably and moved his hand away from the mouse and more recent flashbacks came to him.

_"We no longer mean anything to him. If we were to bump into each other on the streets one day, it would be as if we were strangers." She continued to walk until she reached the middle of the lawn. _

Then he remembered that day of the operation. _"Leaf, don't leave me!" _

_"If you were important to her, wouldn't she have come to look for you already?" she asked, with a bit of anger behind it._

"_This child has been the best present I have ever received in my whole life."_

"_I want to gamble on my life once more," he said confidently._

"_And I'm telling you for the last time. We don't know each other."_

_"Goodbye, Gary."_

By now, tears were already rolling down his face as each flashback occurred into his head, each time hurting his head even more. He remembered that he had begged her to stay when she was about to leave, the time she told him she would always be there, everything.

He let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding and let his head fall down to his hands.

"I remember now."

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><p><strong>Oh man, what a chapter. Eh, rusty, I know but I'm just really tired so I'll probably edit this next time or something. This wasn't edited as well because I'm tired as heck SO THERE ARE MISTAKES IN THERE and I still have chemistry homework to start on.<strong>

**HE FINALLY REMEMBERS, I KNOW. **

**ADD ME AND PLAY WITH ME ON NEOPETS GUYS! :D AHHA, I have no life. **

**REVIEW guys. I would love to read your wonderful reviews and hey, they motivate me to write faster sometimes, you know, so review! Until next time, bye.**


	16. Of Forgiveness and Confrontations

**Oh my gosh guys, have I ever told you how much I loved you guys? Last chapter was the chapter that I received the most reviews and I was so happy. I would love it if I got that for every chapter, but hey, it's better than nothing. **

**ANYWAY, YEAH, UPDATE, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE LIKE LOADS OF HOMEWORK THIS WEEKEND. AND, Gary finally remembers! Don't worry, guys, this story won't be coming to an end yet. It'll probably get to twenty something chapters but till then, I hope you would all continue to enjoy it! **

**I will focus this chapter mostly on the other couples since there weren't any moments last chapter so I shall put it in this chapter. (:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the characters you don't recognize.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Sixteen: Of Forgiveness and Confrontations<strong>_

The wedding day was one week away. Since decorations were pretty much done, thanks to the girls, May had decided to go back to her house in Accumula Town with Drew and Elliott to pick up some things. She would've gone by herself and Elliott if it wasn't for Drew practically begging her to allow him to go to escape the wrath of Brianna. After poking some fun at him, she allowed him to tag along, under one condition of course.

"Once we get back, you should cook something for me and Elliott. We're pretty hungry." The blue eyed brunette smirked upon hearing a grunt from the man sitting next to her. "I'm feeling like eating noodles, what about you, Elliott?"

The little boy sitting in the back seat grinned. "I want a sandwich."

Drew sighed as he heard the vague request. "What kind do you want, Elliott?"

"The one that Aunt Leaf makes for me and Mandy, turkey," he answered with a cheeky grin.

"Anything else?" Drew inquired in a monotone.

May thought about it and nodded. "I want some fresh squeezed orange juice too. Oh, and one cup for Elliott too, he loves orange juice." She heard him groan. "That was the condition, Drew. If you wanted to tag along, you would have to be my slave for one whole month. You even pinky promised, right Elliott?"

Their son nodded. "Yeah, and Daddy can't break pinky promises."

So the whole car ride home was filled with requests May had for him, and when they arrived home, May and Elliott ran into the house excitingly while Drew had to carry in the bags, requested none other than the brunette woman herself. After fifteen minutes of pulling luggage in the house and having insults thrown at him by May, Drew was finally done with it and was now in the kitchen cooking for the two as mother and son were in the living room with May reading a book to her son.

The reading was cut short when the doorbell rang and May went to answer it. She looked through the peephole of the door and immediately opened the door when she saw Mrs. Hayden. Elliott, seeing his grandma, ran over to her, arms extended out ready to hug her.

She saw it and bent down to his level, catching him in her arms right away. "How's my grandson doing? Is Drew being a good daddy to you and Mommy?"

The little boy nodded. "Yeah, he even pinky promised Mommy that he will do whatever she wants! He's making us lunch right now!"

The old woman laughed and gently placed him down after planting a small kiss on his cheek. "Make sure you tell him to make Grandma something too," she whispered in his ear. He immediately grabbed his grandmother's hand and dragged her to the kitchen with him, leaving May and Steve there.

"Welcome, Mr. Hayden," May greeted, "Come in."

He gave her a small nod and stepped in the house while she closed the door. The brunette then led the way the kitchen, only to be stopped when he called her. "May," he started, making her turn around. "How are you guys doing?" he asked nervously.

"We're doing fine," she answered. The two stood there with an awkward silence. "So, have you made up with Mrs. Hayden already?"

"Yeah," he answered. "And I'm here to apologize to you, May."

Hearing this caught the brunette by surprise. She had always suspected of him not liking her so she was okay with it. "What do mean apologize? What did you do to me?"

For a second, Mr. Hayden had already started to feel like running away but stopped himself from having such thoughts. He gulped. "I apologize, it was my fault you and Drew broke up years ago and I was against it when Drew said he was going after you again." He decided to take a seat on the couch and continued on. "It's my fault you guys broke up," he repeated. "I let the power of money get to me by Brianna's father. I was pressured because of it, so I made Drew break up with you," he explained shamefully.

May absorbed everything slowly. It was true she was pretty mad when she found out it was his fault they broke up years ago but that was then, and she had already thought about what she would say if he would one day decided to apologize. She smiled at him. "It's okay, Mr. Hayden. I forgive you."

Hearing her say it so easily and quickly surprised him so he glanced up at her. "How can you forgive me so easily, May?"

The brunette simply smiled. "It's because I understand how it feels to do something you don't want to, so I understand where you're coming from. To be honest, I was pretty mad at first when I found out years ago through Mrs. Hayden but, hey, it's been a long time. I think it's about time I forgave you for everything." May put her hand out for him to shake. "Let's put it all behind us and start over again," she suggested.

He smiled up at her and took her hand to shake. "Yeah, let's start over again, May." Once they got that over with, Drew along with his son and mother emerged from the kitchen and stared at the sight in front of them, Mrs. Hayden smiling with Elliott while Drew just stared in a confused matter.

"Uh," he started with the food in his hands. He caught the two peoples' attention and gestured the food to May. "Your noodles are done. Did you want to eat out here or the kitchen?"

Hearing this, May thought of a brilliant idea. "Let's eat in the kitchen and while we're there, you should make something for your parents to eat."

Upon hearing the suggestion, he narrowed his eyes at the man behind her on the couch. "What are you doing here?" he spat harshly.

"Drew," his mother and May called at the same time. "Listen to what he has to say first, Drew. He feels really bad for what he did years ago," May explained.

He approached May and handed her the bowl of noodles she had asked for along with her cup of orange juice. "Be careful, it's hot. Go with Elliott to eat in the kitchen. I'll talk out here with my mother and father," he ordered quietly.

She figured it was going to be useless to say anything anyway so she simply obeyed him and walked to the kitchen with Elliott. Once he made sure they were gone from an earshot, he turned back to his father. "What are you doing here?"

"He just wants to apologize, Drew," Karen defended. "He feels bad for what he did and he just wants to make up with you, his son."

He looked back at his father to see if he agreed to what she said. Steve simply turned the other way, angering Drew. "Well, is what Mom is saying true?" Steve was still silent, fueling his anger even more. "Answer me, damn it."

"It's true," he finally said. "I want to apologize, but it seems that you don't forgive easily, do you, Drew?" This made his son stay quiet for a while as he continued, "I feel guilty for blackmailing you and I feel even worse for breaking up you and May."

"And it took you this long to realize it?" he sneered.

"Andrew Hayden, that's enough," Karen scolded. "Can't you understand that your father feels bad for what he did? Why can't you forgive him?"

"Because he doesn't deserve to be forgiven," he answered. "Did you forget already, Mom? He was a jerk to both of us and he didn't even regret it one bit because he had money. Why should I forgive him, give me a good reason why," he demanded.

It was silent for a while. Drew had mixed feelings now. He was either angry or just confused and he didn't know which one it was. "If May could forgive me, why can't you?"

The green haired man grinded his teeth and clutched his hands to fists. "Don't bring May into this. She forgives easily, I don't. She's a lot soft-hearted."

"But she understands how it felt like to be hurt, like you," he interjected softly, catching Drew off guard. Steve proceeded to stand up and walked towards the door. "It seems like I won't be able to gain his forgiveness now, Karen, so let's just give him some time to think about it." And with that, he was out the door.

Karen started to head for the door as well but stopped midway out the door. "I'm so disappointed in you, Drew. I thought you would the one who would forgive him in a heartbeat. Guess I was wrong." With that, she followed her husband's steps and left through the door as well, leaving Drew by himself to think through things.

"So why didn't you forgive him?" He turned sharply and met his eyes with the woman at the doorway. "Elliott's finishing his sandwich," she informed, taking steps to him. "Alright, now tell me, why won't you forgive him?" she asked once again when she guided him to the couch.

He sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't forgive him. I've been through so much because of him and if I forgive him now, it'll be as if I'm going easy on him. He doesn't deserve it for what he's done in the past."

The brunette smiled sadly at him and placed her hand on top of his. "I understand where you're coming from, Drew, but you have to realize that he's really sorry for what he's done. If you don't forgive him, then you're going to feel guilty you know, because I know you want to. Is it because of your pride?"

"No, May, it has nothing to do with my pride." She narrowed her eyes at him, knowing for a fact that he was lying and he sighed again. "Fine, it has to do with my pride."

"Forgiving him won't hurt your pride," she said gently. "Besides, you two can even bond again and he can finally meet Elliott."

A small smile crept its way to his mouth as he pulled the brunette into his arms. "Thank you, May. You always know the right thing to say."

* * *

><p>"I'm so glad that we have a break today!" Ash exclaimed happily as he plopped himself down on the couch in the house Misty and Dawn shared. "Melody's really creeping me out, especially during the fitting that one day." Shivers ran down his spine as he recalled that memory.<p>

Misty and Dawn simply shook their heads in amusement while Paul just sat there. "You're unbelievable, Ash," Misty commented.

"Oh, speaking of the fitting how did Megan like the dress I designed for her?"

Ash endured the laugh he had as he remembered her reaction. "Oh, it was hilarious," he said in between his chuckles.

"_I am not going to wear this hideous dress," Megan exclaimed. "Vanessa, I thought you sent me a picture of the perfect dress? This is NOT the dress I saw in the text you sent me."_

_The blond was simply speechless. "I-B-She-What? She showed me the most perfect dress, I'm not kidding, Megan. She must have switched it when I left!"_

"_Are you kidding me? She was against me marrying Gary the whole time; of course she would try to ruin it! Would you start paying more attention? You're going to be my maid of honor so would you be a little smarter?"_

_The blond simply frowned at her. "At least I agreed to be your stupid maid of honor."_

"_Well you got the stupid part right," Megan murmured under her breath. "And if you don't want to be it, then you don't have to. The only reason I asked you was to get back at Dawn for ruining my wedding so I can let you go anytime I want."_

_The other girls just watched as the two went back on forth with the insults. Paul found it rather amusing, as well as Ash and Drew while the girls were trying to break them apart. _

"It was strange though, Gary never showed up to any of the fittings. He always called in sick and would tell us to just do it without him. I guess he already got the fitting."

The girls turned to Paul for confirmation. "It's true, he's been calling in sick and we don't know why. When we called Leaf to know if he was with that little girl, but he wasn't."

"Maybe Leaf knows what he's been up to," Misty suggested, taking out her phone.

* * *

><p>After talking on the phone, it turns out she didn't know what he's been up to. It appears that Leaf had already headed back to Village Bridge with Mandy. "She thinks he's probably just going over the song that he wrote for Megan."<p>

"He wrote her a song?" Dawn questioned in astonishment.

"According to Leaf, yeah," Misty confirmed. "In fact, she even helped him with it when he was staying over there," she informed.

"Why would she do that?" Ash wondered to himself. "I mean, she does still love him, right?"

They exchanged looks as they tried to answer Ash's question. "She can't do anything about it if he doesn't remember her though," Paul stated flatly.

Even when no one said anything after that, they all agreed with Paul on that statement. There was _nothing _they could've done to help him remember it.

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><p>The following day, Megan was finally able to get in contact with Gary and when she did, she told him to meet her at the chapel for rehearsals since their wedding day was just one day away.<p>

He went there as he was told and when he arrived there, the people they had invited there were outside the chapel rather than inside and at the entrance was his fiancée. "What happened here? Why aren't we inside?"

Megan, dressed in an alternate wedding dress, stomped up to him. "What happened? Your friends happened, that's what! They trashed the chapel and now, it's not even the dream wedding we wanted. I'm uninviting them."

"No, you're not uninviting any of them," he said blankly, surprising her.

"What? Why? And why aren't you in your tuxedo?"

He sighed in frustration and brought out his phone. He unlocked his phone and brought the phone up to her level. The wallpaper on his phone replaced the one he had with her and was now the picture he took with Leaf. "Explain this to me," he commanded quietly.

She stared at it in shock as her mind processed what was going on. The picture was right in front of her eyes, she just couldn't believe it. "W-where did you get that picture?"

"That doesn't matter. Now explain to me. Why didn't you tell me about my past with Leaf?"

"You haven't answered my question yet. Why aren't you dressed up?"

He locked his eyes with hers. "Because I'm calling off the engagement." She opened her mouth to say something but he continued, "That's right, Megan, I'm not going to marry you. And if you're not going to give me an explanation, then I'm leaving."

Without anymore words, he turned on his heel and headed back for his car while the crowd watched in shock. Gary Oak had just left Megan Tanner six days before their wedding.

Once he drove off, she had completely collapse to the ground, her mind still processing what had happened.

"…He remembers…and he just left me…"

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><p><strong>Eww, I don't think I liked this chapter a lot. Maybe I'll rewrite it or something, I don't know, depends on my mood. UGH, and I still have loads of homework that have yet been touched, GREEAATT, I hate my teachers. :c I can't wait until summer time, where school's over.<strong>

**SO LIKE, I was going to use Speak Now, LIKE I PLANNED IT AND EVERYTHING, but it just changed and yeahhh.**

**ANYWAY, review and tell me how it was! I would love to read your opinions and if I receive as much reviews as I did last chapter, there may be another update next week due to the amount of motivation! And besides, you guys can even help me reach 400 reviews! But of course, I don't really care if I reach that goal in this chapter or not. I just hoped you guys liked it and review to tell me how it was! Bye for now.**


	17. You Will Be Living With Me Now

**Alright, so you're all probably mad that I haven't updated in a while and I'm not going to lie, I've been really lazy and it's state testing month so I guess you all understand why. I still have the math portion and I'm supposed to be doing some math review right now, but I don't feel like it, so I'll update now. **

**Thank you all very much for your wonderful reviews. They all made me smile and remember when I said I would give a one-shot or song-fic for the 400****th**** reviewer but she never responded so I used a random generator to pick the next person. Don't worry, Cerulean Leader, you will get your story soon! Now let's get this chapter started!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for the characters you don't recognize.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Seventeen: You Will Be Living With Me Now<strong>_

"**Really, you've seen Leaf after so long?" **

The old man chuckled and smiled gently upon meeting the brunette again. "Yes, Mrs. Green, and she had a little surprise as well."

"**What kind of surprise is that?"** the woman asked curiously. Before he can respond, she continued to speak, **"Oh, forget about it. Maybe Mike and I could just visit and we'll see the surprise ourselves,"** she planned excitingly.

"I'm sure you two will be very surprised." From there, the two talked happily, catching up with things. It wasn't until he heard the door slam that they had to hang up.

"**Oh, don't worry about it. I have a doctor's appointment anyway. Thank you again for the news about Leafy, Professor Oak." **

Once they hung up, the professor stood up from his seat and went to see his grandson. "Gary, what are you doing here? I thought you had a rehearsal wedding to go to."

His grandson didn't say anything but sat down on the couch, arms on his knees. Gary looked up and stared right in his grandfather's eyes. "Why didn't you tell me about Leaf?"

Professor Oak was taken aback by the question. He slowly approached Gary and sat down next to him, attempting to put a hand on his shoulder, only to be ignored by the man. "What are you talking about?"

He sighed in frustration and grabbed his phone from his pocket. He searched for the photo in his phone and held it up to the confused professor. "I found pictures of myself and Leaf, Gramps. Not only that, but I remember everything."

His grandfather sat there, frozen. He was still letting the information sink in. _'He couldn't have possibly remembered now,'_ he thought to himself. "Gary, you're probably angry at me right now, but you seemed happy with Megan," he started to explain. "I know it was wrong, but I didn't know where Leaf was and I could never find the time to tell you. You were always with Megan."

The auburn haired man tried to find something to retort with but everything his grandfather just told him was true. He didn't know where she was, so what was the point of telling him, right? And it was true, since he woke up from his operation, Megan was always around him and when he was with his grandfather, Gary would always talk about Megan. So it wasn't his grandfather's fault for not telling him. "But why didn't you stop me from proposing to her if you knew I might remember one day?"

Professor Oak smiled sadly over at his grandson. "You were happy," he stated. "Even though I prefer Leaf much more, I couldn't stop you from being happy. If I were to tell you about Leaf, would you have believed me when you were so in love with Megan?"

Gary now felt guilty for interrogating his grandfather about everything. All Professor Oak wanted was for his grandson to be happy and this was how he treated him. "I'm sorry, Grandpa. I'm just confused about everything right now."

He smiled and placed a reassuring hand on his grandson's shoulder. "It's okay, Gary. I forgive you." With that, there was a moment of silence where the two wanted to say something. "So what're you going to do now?"

Gary thought for a while and smirked. "That will be a surprise."

Without letting his say anything, the professor's grandson walked through the door and started to his car. Before he was able to reach there though, he was approached by the person he had just left. He narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you want?" he spat coldly.

She stared at the ground, hunting for words to say to him. "I'm sorry, Gary."

"Sorry isn't going to help you get out of this, Megan," he said icily. "You knew I loved Leaf, why did you make her leave?" She opened her mouth to tell him that Leaf left on her own but he continued, "Don't you even dare tell me she left on her own because I know she didn't." He walked up closer to her. "Now tell me, why didn't you tell me about her?"

Tears started to form at the brim of her eyes and she let out the breath she didn't know she held. "It was for your own good," she started. "You were already going through so much, how did you expect me to tell you that the person you loved wasn't me, but Leaf? I couldn't tell you. Because I love you." She was starting to lose control over her voice and soon, it broke. "Do you remember when we first met? You were with Leaf that day. I remember that you used to be so cocky and arrogant. Then, as we got older, you started to change, you weren't as cocky, you treated her unlike anyone else. You changed for Leaf. You fell for her." She sniffled. "Was it wrong of me to keep it from you so you wouldn't be hurt?"

He took a step back from her and had an empty look in his eyes. "What right did you have to tell me what's right from wrong? In these past six years, you had so many chances to tell me the truth; but you didn't. Do you know the person who let me down the most is you? I trusted you, and you betrayed me. I can understand why you did it to me, but it doesn't mean that I forgive you. This is the end of everything for us." And with that, he started for the door of his car but was stopped by something restraining him back.

"What are you doing now?" she inquired, voice cracking. Her eyes were full of regret, but he didn't seem to care too much about it.

He smirked. "I'm going to make Leaf Green feel the same way I did," he said casually. Megan widened her eyes as she already figured out what he was going to do.

"Gary," she called before he released himself from her grasp. "Are you doing this to her because you feel betrayed and want revenge, or is it because you still love her?"

Without even giving her an answer, he left, leaving just a wink.

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><p>Village Bridge was bright and sunny as usual. Since it was a weekday, Mandy was at school while Leaf was at her usual shift at the sandwich shop. She worked like usual, trying to keep all the bad thoughts in the back of her head. <em>'Relax, Leaf. He no longer has anything to do with you and you no longer have anything to do with him. It'll be as if he never came into your life,' <em>she kept telling herself.

"Leaf, someone's requesting for you," her boss, Chris, called.

"I'm coming," the brunette called back, coming out of the kitchen. She regretted it immediately upon laying her eyes upon the man at the counter. He was the same man she had met just not long ago and she was pretty sure she wouldn't see him ever again. Then why is he here? Then she noticed something in his eyes. Chris may have thought it was kindness, but Leaf knew it wasn't kindness at all.

"Gary," she greeted, feigning happiness.

He smiled, trying not to blow his cover. He had to make her believe that he was still the oblivious man she thought he was who didn't remember anything about his past. "Leaf, it's good to see you again."

She looked at him in bewilderment. "Uh, I just saw you not long ago at Castelia City…"

His smile didn't falter at all. "Well, I had a feeling that Mandy missed me so I drove myself here to see her. But she's still at school, so I figured that I'd come and see how you're doing."

Leaf checked her wrist watch and frowned. "She should be out of school now. Danny's probably brought her home already."

"Then let's go back together, Leaf. We should catch up on some things since we haven't really spoken to each other since you were at Castelia," he suggested.

Although Leaf felt like he wasn't the same Gary, she still agreed to walk with him. Chris had let her off early so now she was walking with him. It was silent between them as they walked. "So, Leaf, why don't you tell me more about Mandy's father," he started, still smiling.

"I told you everything already," she said calmly trying to hide the surprised voice. "What else do you want to know?"

"Who was he?"

Her heart raced and her pace slowed down. Leaf wanted to go on a full on sprint home but her legs suddenly felt weak and shaky. Since they were at the bridge, she was able to hold onto the rail before completely collapsing down.

He crouched down to her level, smile no longer there. He brought out his phone and showed the picture to her face. It was the exact picture he had sent her on the day of his operation. Leaf's eyes widened as she stared at it and it struck her immediately. "You remember…" she murmured.

He smirked. "Yes, Leaf, I remember everything. There's just one thing that I don't know yet though. Who's Mandy's father?"

"Why do you want to know?" she inquired quietly.

"Because I can fight for child custody if I find out she's my daughter." He stood up, smirk still plastered on his face. "Now that I think about it, she does resemble me a little bit, rather than Danny. Is she my daughter?"

The brunette looked away and pushed herself up. "I don't think it's any of your business, Oak."

"It is my business if she's my daughter, Green," he said in a voice that matched hers.

"_If _she's yours. You don't have proof that she's your daughter though."

He locked his eyes with hers, his filled with seriousness. "I can always get her blood read. If you don't want her to go through all that trouble, then you should just tell me the truth now, Leaf."

She looked down at the river, debating. It was true she didn't want her daughter to go through so much trouble but if she told him, then she was one hundred percent sure he would take this to court for the child custody. She let out a strangled sigh and looked back up at him. "She's your child," she said shakily.

"I knew it." He smirked. "Now doesn't that make you feel much better?"

"Please don't take Mandy away," Leaf pled. "I love her, please, don't take her away. I'll do anything."

He raised an eyebrow. "Anything?" he questioned.

* * *

><p>The green haired man stood outside at the porch of the house in front of him. It had been ten minutes before he finally decided to ring the doorbell but hesitated when he was about to. His finger rose to the bell again but was retreated immediately.<p>

"JUST RING THE DOORBELL ALREADY!" May yelled from behind. He looked back in annoyance, only to be met with a soft smile on her face and a cheeky grin from his son. "You can do it," she whispered in a much softer voice.

A small smile made its way to his face as he planted a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you, May."

He let out a deep breath and rang the doorbell. They waited a while before the door was finally opened by Karen. "Drew," she breathed out in surprise. Her eyes then diverted to the other two behind them. "May, Elliott, you two are here too."

"Hi, Grandma!" the young boy greeted happily.

Drew smiled sheepishly at his mother. "Is Dad home?"

She grinned and nodded before letting the family in. "May, why don't you and Elliott join me for some tea and cookies," she suggested happily.

"Can I have milk instead, Grandma?"

She giggled and brought Elliott up to her arms. "Of course you can, Elliott. You have to drink milk if you want to grow up to be big and strong." The three of them started to make their way to the kitchen before Karen stopped. "Oh, and Drew, your father's in the living room."

He followed her instructions and made his was way to the living room. Sitting on the couch, reading the daily newspaper, was his father, the man who yearned for his son's forgiveness. Drew didn't know how to start off the whole conversation so he cleared his throat, which caught his attention rather quickly.

"Drew," he announced, standing up from the couch. "What are you doing here? Come sit down." Steve started to usher his son over, who obeyed without any questions asked, slight surprising the middle-aged man.

Drew sat on the seat awkwardly while he tried to find the right words to tell his father. When he couldn't, he decided to just forget about being formal and just go with what he had in mind when he arrived. "I know we've had our differences, and I admit that it was wrong for what you did. I was angry, actually. But, you're my father and I can't be mad at you forever. Besides, you taught me how to be the man I am today. Even though you did many wrong things like making me break up with May, I forgive you because it's because of you I'm able to face this. And it's also that because of you, I was able to find the guts to go back to May."

The older man smiled gratefully at his son before pulling him into a hug. "Drew, I am so proud of you. You've become a man without me."

Although it wasn't a Drew Hayden style, he hugged back. "You helped be me become a man though, Dad. Without you, I don't know where I would be today. Thank you."

The two father and son moment was quickly interrupted by someone clearing their throat. They looked up, only to find Karen, May, and Elliott. "So…" May started. "Is everything okay now?" she inquired hopefully.

They chuckled and released each other from their embrace. "She's a keeper, Drew. Don't ever let go of her," Steve advised.

"Don't worry, Dad. I don't intend on letting her go anyway."

The two men laughed it out before a certain little boy trotted his way over to the couch with a plate of cookies. They stopped their laughing and Elliott grinned up at the two. "Would Daddy and Grandpa like some cookies?" he asked politely, bringing the plate up closer to them.

The older Hayden father let out a roar of laughter before carrying Elliott up and propping him up on his knee. "So this is my grandson, eh? He has your looks, Drew," he stated, comparing the father and son duo. "What's your name?"

"I'm Elliott Hayden," he said with a huge smile.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Elliott. I'm your grandfather now, so just call me Grandpa or Grandpa Hayden, is that clear?"

He nodded and then looked up with a serious look. "Does that mean Elliott is going to get lots and lots of presents from now on?"

"ELLIOTT!" May and Drew scolded in unison.

"That's disrespectful, Elliott, now apologize." May then turned to Steve. "I'm really sorry you had to see that. He's usually really well behaved, Mr. Hayden."

He simply chuckled. "It's okay, I don't mind. I owe you guys anyway, so what would you like, Elliott? A car, a house, you name it." The two laughed and Elliott hugged his grandfather. "And May, you don't have to be so formal. Just call me Dad from now on."

May couldn't help but allow the gentle smile to grace her face and nodded. "Alright, Dad."

* * *

><p>"So, I heard he remembers," Misty piped up as the four gathered at the guys' house. "Is that a good thing or should we be afraid that he might confront us about it?"<p>

"Who cares, Misty, what matters most is the fact that he left the witch of a Megan at the altar and they're no longer getting married," Dawn cheered happily. She rested her head on Paul's shoulder. "Soon we're all going to be living happily ever after!"

Ash and Paul stayed silent before the quiet man grunted. "Don't get too excited, Troublesome. You're forgetting one crucial fact. He's just remembered everything, so he's likely to be angry rather than happy."

"Paul's right," Ash agreed. "He's likely to confront Leaf first though and ask her for the truth." He sighed. "It sucks, knowing that he remembers but angry at us."

Then the bluenette gasped, catching everyone's' attention. "What if he's going to confront Leaf about Mandy? Think about it, guys. I'm pretty sure she told him that Mandy wasn't Danny's child so he's mostly likely at Village Bridge right now."

"And if he learns that Mandy is after all his child, he can always try to fight for child custody," Misty finished off. "That's can't happen, Mandy's her whole world."

"But this is Gary Oak we're talking about," Ash started. "If he's still the same guy we once knew before the operation, then there's no doubt in mind that he's still in love with Leaf and that means he wouldn't dare hurt her." The others tried to say something, but he continued, "I know Gary. He's not the type who would go so far to hurt Leaf."

"How are you so positive, Ketchum?" Paul inquired.

Ash grinned. "Because he loves her. You never hurt the ones you love."

* * *

><p>"You want me and Mandy to do what?!" the brunette exclaimed.<p>

Gary smirked and crossed his arms across his chest. "You heard me, Leafy. You two are to come to live with me or I will fight for Mandy's custody. Which would you choose?"

"Why are you doing this?" she whispered as she looked up at him, pain full in her eyes.

The man in front of her narrowed his eyes at her. "You knew my past and you never told me when I stayed here. I'm only letting you know how it feels like to feel like I did. And I'm going to make your stay at Oak resident a living hell."

"I told you before, I had no choice but to leave you!" she argued back. "You have to believe me, Gary." When he didn't say anything, she continued. "Look, is there anything else I can do?"

"You can always give me Mandy," he said flatly. "Your choice, Green."

The brunette looked at the man before her. He wasn't the same guy she knew before. Even though he remembers everything, he's a whole new different Gary Oak now. He's the man who wants revenge now, the man whose love died out for her long ago. Although it hurt her to admit it, she had to face the truth sooner or later. She was too late to get him back. Leaf felt a lone tear slide down her face.

"Okay," she finally said. "We'll move in with you."

* * *

><p><strong>Yeahh, short chapter again. I just wanted something up before I start on my math homework. SIGH, here comes possible six hours worth of work. LOL, don't judge me, I'm not a math person, even if I'm Asian!<strong>

**I hope you all enjoyed it, guys! I decided that it was finally time Drew forgave Steve cause I think it's been going on for far too long, so yay, happy Hayden family now! ^_^**

**Review guys! Please leave your oh so wonderful reviews and make me smile! The more, the faster I upload chapters. LOL, jaykay, but really, I do appreciate reading your wonderful reviews so leave some! Until next time, byee. **


	18. Welcome to Oak's Resident

**Okay, so you're all probably mad that I haven't updated in like what, one month? I am really sorry. I've been so stressed out with school and such and my crazy math teacher decided to give us our finals ONE WEEK before we're actually supposed to take finals so that took a tow on my days and I had projects and ugh, everything has been so haywire. BUUUT, I'm almost going to be out of school! I just have up to June 13 and I'll be free. OOH, guys, if you want to get to know me better, follow me on tumblr! (: Just PM me and I'll give you my url. **

**So anyway, thank you all who reviewed last chapter. You all made me a happy writer. I just have one problem though… To the anon who keeps bashing on the story, 'Your Attention' please stop it. Citrasama didn't copy my story; she was inspired so stop bashing on it. It's actually a good story, and I admit, it's better than mine. SO, point is, anon, stop bashing. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I only own the OC's.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Eighteen-Welcome to Oak's Resident<strong>_

Leaf stood on the outside of her white picket fence and looked at the house in front of her. She hesitated on reaching for the lock of the gate to get through. Then, a hand reached out and opened it for her, gesturing her to enter.

"Ladies first," Gary offered coolly. A smirk played on his face and Leaf knew why. She felt like punching him in the face that instant but refrained herself from doing so. Instead, she decided to be civil and entered with nothing to retort with.

"Stay out her then," she ordered when she entered, closing the fence so he wouldn't enter. "I want to tell Mandy myself."

He rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Fine, just don't take too long."

Leaf ignored the comment and proceeded to go inside. When she entered, Mandy ran up to her excitingly. "Mommy, you're home early! Uncle Danny can go now, right?"

Leaf smiled down at her daughter and kissed her forehead. "Yes, he may leave now." She turned to Danny. "Thanks for watching her today."

"No problem, Leaf." He gave her a hug and left and frowned upon seeing the spiky haired male standing outside, glaring at him. Danny didn't falter though. Instead, he calmly made his way over to the gate and left through it, though he was stopped by Gary. "Did you need something?" Danny inquired.

The brunet male narrowed his eyes down at Danny. "What are _you _doing at Leaf's house?"

He looked at Gary confusingly. "I was babysitting Mandy while Leaf was at work. What's it to you, anyway? Don't you have a wedding to plan?" His voice suddenly got cold upon mentioning the wedding. "You should go. That _lovely _fiancée of yours is probably waiting patiently."

Gary smirked upon hearing the wedding. He slowly approached Danny and his smirk grew wider and wider with each step he took. "For you information, Pretty boy, I called off the engagement." He saw Danny's confusion. "You know, I've been wondering lately, who is Mandy's father? And what happened to him? Did he die? Did he walk out on them? Was he hospitalized and _she _walked out on _him?_" Upon hearing the last guess, his eyes widened and looked up at the now stone faced brunet. "That's right, Danny. I remember everything and Leaf already told me Mandy's my child."

"Then why are you still here?" he shot back venomously.

The smirk played on his lips once again. "I want Leaf to feel the same way I did. So, she and Mandy are going to be moving in with me."

Danny shot daggers at Gary upon hearing what he was planning to do. He pushed Gary away from him and walked away from him. "You're sick, Oak," he said when he stopped just a couple of feet away. "You should listen to her half of the story. She had a reason for leaving you."

"And that reason was to be with _you_," Gary retorted disgustingly. He felt the anger rise up as he said that. The hurt he felt that day when she left him was returning and the flashbacks started to play over and over again in his head. His jaw tightened as he remembered that dreadful day. "I loved her," he said quietly. "And during the time when I needed her most, she left me. She threw me away like a broken toy."

Danny frowned and looked away. "Leaf's not like that. And if you think that she's that kind of person, then maybe you don't deserve her at all." And with that, he walked off, letting and letting Gary, now angry, standing there. He restrained himself from destroying the fence and looked inside, where the house stood.

"That's where you're wrong, Danny," he mumbled to himself. "_Leaf _doesn't deserve _me._"

* * *

><p>"Mandy, come over here," Leaf called over. "Mommy needs to talk to you." She sat down on the couch and motioned her daughter to do the same thing.<p>

The little girl ran over to her mother and plopped down on the couch. "Is Mandy in trouble?"

The brunette smiled down at Mandy. "No, Mandy didn't do anything wrong." The little girl grinned when she learned she did nothing wrong and Leaf sighed as telling her was going to be a lot harder than she thought it would be. "Mandy, remember when Mommy told you the story about Daddy?"

She nodded. "And Daddy is not with us anymore."

Leaf sighed again. She swallowed the lump that hitched in her throat before finding her voice again. "Mandy, do you promise you won't be mad a Mommy?" Mandy nodded and gave Leaf a pinky promise before the older brunette continued. "Mommy lied, Daddy is still here. You're still too young to understand everything right now, so I'll tell you when you're older then, okay? All you have to know is that Daddy once had an illness and he forgot everything."

It was quiet between the two for a while. Leaf guessed that Mandy was still soaking in all the information. "Who is Mandy's daddy, then?" she finally asked.

"Do you remember Uncle Gary?" Mandy nodded. "He's your daddy, Mandy. He had an illness six years ago and it made him forget everything."

"But he got married to Aunt Megan," Mandy retorted. She was in a state of shock and since she promised Leaf she wouldn't be mad, she couldn't yell or be angry.

Leaf shook her head. "No, he said he won't marry her anymore. He was angry at her for not telling him the truth." She sighed again. She seemed to sigh a lot nowadays. "He told Mommy that he wants us to move in with him. Would you like that?"

"But Mommy said Uncle Gary was not Daddy. Mommy lied!"

"I know I did, Mandy, and Mommy feels horrible. But Daddy didn't even know us when he was here. Please, Mandy. Mommy is really sorry." Leaf started to hold Mandy down because she was already prepared to jolt to her room. "Mandy, Uncle Gary is your dad. You have to accept it sooner or later, Sweetie." The room was silent again as Mandy was deep in thoughts.

"Mandy forgives Mommy," she finally said, breaking the silence. "Where is Daddy now?"

"He's outside," Leaf informed. "Did you want to see him?"

She nodded and held her hand out to Leaf. "Can you go with me, Mommy?"

Leaf smiled and grabbed her hand. "I would love to, Mandy."

And with that, the two made their way outside and Gary smiled at Mandy while Leaf opened the gate to allow him in. "Hi there, Mandy," he greeted kindly. "I'm assuming you know now?"

Mandy nodded. "Hi Daddy," she said happily. She then proceeded to run up to him and gave him a hug, an action he returned.

"I'll play with you now when you're bored and I'll participate with you in every parent and child event. You have a father now, Mandy," he whispered in her ear. She only nodded with a grin. When they released each other from their hug, Gary turned to Leaf. "So when do you two want to move in?"

The brunette looked down at her daughter. "Mandy, when do you want to move in with Daddy?"

"I want to go move in right now!" she said excitingly. "Can we go, please Mommy?"

"If you want to stay for an extra day or so, you can do that and Mandy can just come with me first, Leaf," Gary suggested. "I mean, you know if you wanted to say goodbye to everyone and such, then feel free. I can always pick you up tomorrow morning."

Although it wasn't visible, Leaf saw the discreet smirk he flashed at her and saw the bitterness in his eyes. He made it far too obvious for her. "No, we should go today. Mandy and I just need to pack a few things and we can be on our way." She held her hand out to Mandy. "Come on, Mandy, let's go pack up." She turned back to Gary. "You can help us pack too, if you want. If you do, then please help with the pictures."

He smirked and walked past them, making his way into the house. "Sure, no problem, Leafy."

* * *

><p>While Leaf packed with Mandy, Gary was helping with the picture frames. By the time she was done with Mandy's packing, she moved on with her clothes. Midway through the packing, Gary entered her room with Mandy.<p>

"Mandy wants to go already," he informed. "Do you want me to drive her over first and then you catch up, or would you want us to wait?"

"Whatever Mandy wants, but know that it's a long ride there. Don't forget about the time when you watched her, Gary. At night, when I'm not there, she tends to be a bit out of control." She smirked upon the memory.

Gary's cheeks turned red but quickly covered it up with his cool demeanor. "Leaf that was when she didn't know I was her father. I'm sure she wouldn't mind now that she knows she's safe, right, Mandy?" He looked down, only to find that the little girl was gone from his side and next to her mother.

"Mandy will help Mommy pack. Then, we can go together!"

Leaf smiled down at Mandy and smirked up at Gary. _Score one for Leaf, zip for Gary._

"What about me car?" she asked Gary. "I can't just leave it here."

Gary smirked. "Are you talking about that old white one? Leaf, it's six years old. I can get you one of the new versions from this year."

The brunette frowned at him and shook her head at his arrogance. "No, I'm not going to leave my car here. Why don't you just go first and we'll go there once we're done," she proposed.

"Okay, fine," he grudgingly agreed. "Whatever, I have to set up Mandy's room anyway. Bye, Mandy." He waved at her and she returned the action. "I'll see you soon, Leafy."

Leaf simply rolled her eyes and went back to packing her things. "It's okay, Mandy. Just sit there, Mommy's almost done with packing."

The little girl obeyed and sat quietly on the bed, humming songs she had learned in school. "If we move in with Daddy, does that mean I have to switch schools too?" she inquired.

Leaf thought for a while and then nodded. "I guess so, Sweetie. It'll be okay though. You make people like you easily so you'll make friends fast, okay?" When Mandy still didn't seem to buy it, Leaf sighed and grinned. "You won't have to see Cindy anymore too," she chimed cheerfully.

Upon hearing this, Mandy's spirit was instantly lifted and she grinned as well, jumping on the bed. "Really, Mommy?" she asked excitingly. "I won't see Cindy anymore?"

Leaf giggled and hoisted her daughter off the bed. "Yup, you're not going to see the mean people anymore, isn't that great?"

Mandy hugged her mother and laughed along with her. "It is great, Mommy!" she answered gleefully.

And with that, the two continued with the packing.

* * *

><p>As soon as they were done packing, it was already eight pm. Leaf had considered going the next day, but Mandy had convinced her to go. "But what about dinner, aren't you hungry?" Leaf inquired.<p>

Her daughter simply shook her head. "Mandy is not hungry today. Mandy wants to go move in with Daddy now."

"But Mandy, you have to eat something," Leaf argued back. She hated arguing with her daughter, but when it came to health issues like eating, she wasn't going to let that happen. No daughter of hers is going to start starving herself. "Just eat something and we'll be on our way, okay?"

When Mandy opened her mouth to object, her mother shot her the look that meant she wouldn't take no for an answer so the little girl simply nodded and trotted over to her chair on the kitchen table. Leaf headed for the fridge and grabbed plate from it. "Since you're so eager to go live with Daddy, why don't we just have last night's leftovers," she suggested.

Mandy only nodded as she was extremely excited to move in. Leaf prepared the food and the two ate together, talking and laughing.

When they were done, Leaf cleaned the plates and set them away nicely. She then proceeded to get the things they packed and loaded them into her car. She figured that Gary already had the necessities like silverware, bed, furniture, etc. So Leaf decided to leave the stuff there for the future people who happen to move in. She left a note at the front door and left the key to the house under the mat. She figured Danny would return in the morning and he'll see the note.

When Leaf was finally finished with everything, she placed Mandy in the car and went to the driver's seat afterwards. She looked at the time, nine-thirty. "Okay, Mandy," she started. "If you're tired, then just go to sleep okay? It's going to be a long ride." When she didn't get any response, she turned around and smiled as her daughter was already knocked out.

* * *

><p>At the Oak's resident, Gary was putting the finishing touches in the room. He had hired a few people to help set up the room to fit a little girl. When he was just about done, Professor Oak entered the room and scanned around before landing his eyes on his grandson.<p>

"What's all this for, Gary?"

Gary smirked. "This is Mandy's room, Gramps." He saw the eyes of his grandfather widened and continued. "Yup, I went to Village Bridge today and confronted Leaf about it. It took a while but I managed to get the information out of her. It turns out Mandy's really my daughter, so I gave her the choice of moving in or losing Mandy from child custody."

The professor sighed and took a seat on the bed. He had no idea his grandson would go so far for revenge. Professor Oak already knew the motive behind this right when Gary mentioned Mandy's room. "Gary," he started. "Is this really what you want? Do you really want Leaf to get a taste of revenge that badly?"

His smirk didn't falter as it grew wider. "I've already thought out everything, Gramps. I've never been any clearer before. She's going to move in with Mandy and we'll pretend to be loving parents in front her. Don't get me wrong, I could've easily taken Mandy away but she needs a mother figure and Leaf needs her."

He sighed again. "Do you know what I see now, Gary?" His grandson raised an eyebrow. "From what I see, perhaps you don't hate her as much as you say you do. Are you doing this because you still love her?" His smirked was finally gone upon hearing those words. "You're using Mandy against her to move in with you and be an actual family and have her by your side, because you don't want to lose her all over again, right?"

Gary's jaw tightened. It was definitely not the time for him to be getting a lecture. "I'm only doing this for the child, Gramps. Like I said before, Mandy needs a mother and Leaf can't lose her. We have no choice but to be together. It's that simple."

Professor Oak looked searchingly in his grandson's eyes, trying to find tale that he was bluffing. "You have to be more honest with yourself, Gary. Denying that you love her-"

"Who said I still love her?" he shot back hotly.

His grandfather looked at him with earnest eyes. "Don't you still love her?"

The silence started between the two. Gary was avoiding all eye contact with his grandfather and his eyes softened.

Then, the doorbell went off, bringing the two back to reality. Professor Oak cleared the door. "I should get going now. I still have a finish off a research paper. Treat Leaf right, okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "Sure, Gramps, whatever," he replied coolly.

The two walked out of the room together and separated when the reached the stairs. Professor Oak returned to his office while Gary headed downstairs.

When he opened the door, Leaf was carrying a sleeping Mandy in her arms. "Can you help me bring in our clothes and the pictures?" she whispered softly. "I need to put her in bed. Where's her room at?"

Feeling that she's already been through enough for the day, Gary decided to be nice to her, just this one time. "Her room's upstairs, should be the second door on the left," he instructed.

"Thanks," she murmured quietly before heading upstairs with her sleeping daughter.

Gary only sighed as he went outside to unload the things from her car before bringing it inside, his mind still caught up on the conversation he just had with his grandfather. "It's impossible for us to ever get back to the way we used to be, Gramps," he said to himself.

As soon as he set the things down in the living room, he headed upstairs to see if Leaf found the room. When he entered Mandy's room, Leaf was already making her way through the door. She looked at the ground. "So you did all this today?"

He nodded and smirked. "Yeah, you like it?"

Leaf nodded. "It's perfect for Mandy," she said softly. "Thank you."

He chuckled slightly. "There's no need to thank me, Leaf. She is my daughter after all." She let out a tired yawn after he said that. "You should be sleeping too."

"Where's my room then?"

"What do you mean your room? Leaf, now that Mandy knows that I'm her father, she's going to want us to be loving parents who cares for one another. So that means you'll be sleeping in _my _room, with _me._" Gary saw her eyes widen and smirked. "Welcome to the Oak's resident."

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><p><strong>So not much happened here, so I'm sorry. DON'T WORRY THOUGH, next chapter shall be so much better. I'm so excited for the next few chapters, guys! I've already planned out the rest!<strong>

**Blah, I'm so tired right now that I'm not going to proofread it, so point out the mistakes, guys. Much is appreciated. **

**REVIEW and make me a happy author. I'll update next week for sure because finals are starting on Wednesday, I think and ending on Friday, I believe sooo, that means school's gonna be almost over and I'll be free. Ugh, sophomore year has not been good to me. I'll probably rant about it on tumblr later. OOOOH, speaking of tumblr, I made one for fanfiction usage. Like, it's gonna be a blog for just pokemon and my updates and such soo, follow me if you have one! **

** leafxgreen . tumblr . com**

**SOOO, REVIEW AND FOLLOW! C: **

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	19. First Day at Oak Resident

**Okay, I lied last week. It turns out that my finals actually started on Thursday and ends on Monday. MY GRADES DROPPED, omg, I am officially screwed. If I failed my Spanish finals, then I'm just going to drop out. I can't afford another B. **

**Anyway, it's not going to stop me from updating. I promised last week and I shall keep it. I am determined to finish this story this summer and finish the rest of my stories!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Nineteen-First Day at Oak Resident<strong>_

"No way, Leaf," May gasped through the phone. "So you guys are living with him now?"

"**Yeah,"** the brunette responded glumly**. "I mean, we can talk again and such, but I don't want him to hating me while we talk."**

May sighed. She was currently in the living room, watching some television, while Elliott was playing with Drew outside. "Why don't you just tell him why you left in the first place? If you tell him, then I'm pretty sure he'll forgive you and you two will be back to normal."

"**I can't though,"** Leaf started**. "I promised Megan I wouldn't tell him that she made me leave, no exceptions. You know how I am when I make promises, May."**

"I know," May sighed. "This sucks, Leaf. And here I was, all excited that he remembered so you two can be happy again." She looked outside and smiled upon seeing the two guys play together. "How did Mandy take the news when you told her?"

She heard a sigh from the other line. **"She didn't want to believe me at first so I had to tell her that Gary had an illness and forgot about her. She was pretty angry, but she didn't show it because she promised she wouldn't get mad. I think she likes it here though. I mean, she seems to like being with Gary."**

May giggled. "Of course she would like being with Gary," she stated. "He is her father after all. It's just like Elliott being with Drew. He likes being with his father. Speaking of which, where is Gary?"

"**He's out doing some research. I'm at my new home now, still adjusting to everything."**

"Did you tell Misty and Dawn already?"

"**Yeah,"** Leaf replied. **"I don't they liked his idea of keeping me in this place. Oh, Mandy's hungry now. I'll talk to you later, okay?" **

After the two bid their goodbyes, Drew and Elliott came into the house. Elliott immediately ran over to May while Drew had a strangled look on his face. "Uh, May, we have some visitors…"

Before he was able to continue, a man, about twenty years old, popped up behind Drew. "Whoa, this is nice house, May. Did you buy it, Drew?" he inquired.

"MAX?" May exclaimed in disbelief as she stared at the man in front of her. Then, the questions started to pour out of her mouth. "What on earth are you doing here? And how did you know I live here? Where are Mom and Dad?" She stopped to take a breather and Elliott quickly went to get her a glass of water, with Drew's help of course.

When they were gone in the kitchen, Caroline and Norman appeared from the door. "May, it's great to see you again," the woman cried as she ran over to pull her daughter into a suffocating hug. "You have no idea how much we missed you and when we learned that you disappeared, we thought we wouldn't see you again," she gushed on.

Max and Norman simply laughed at the scene. "So how did you guys know I was here?" May questioned after she was released from her deathly hug. By then, Drew had already brought the glass of water out for May and was currently sitting next to her with Elliott on his lap.

"Oh, well you see, Karen called me the other day and was going on and on about Drew finally happy again and how you two are a happy family. Then, I asked where she had seen you and so she told me where you two were," she said happily. Then she took notice of Elliott. "I assume he's my grandson," she guessed sneakily.

"Grandson, eh?" Norman piped up, eyeing Drew dangerously. "Tell me, when did you two have this child?"

May twiddled her two index fingers together as she laughed nervously. She turned to Drew who was paralyzed by the dangerous look he was receiving. May rolled her eyes and looked at her parents again. "Well, Elliott is five years old right now and I left six years ago…so I guess you guys can figure out the rest," May explained.

Her parents were quiet and Caroline was speechless, for the first time. Max then coughed to ease the tension. "So does that mean I'm the favorite child now?"

"MAX!" May stood up and put him in a headlock. She knew she was setting a horrible example for Elliott but, luckily, Drew saw it coming and quickly covered him eyes to prevent their son from seeing his mother do something violent.

After Max begged for mercy, May released him and looked at the amused looks on her parents' faces. "Mom, Dad," she started. "I know you're both probably mad at me right now and would want to murder Drew right now for ruining my life," she ignored the 'HEY' from Drew and continued, "but I'm happy. So, please don't be mad."

They smiled together and then pulled their daughter into a hug. "May, we're not mad," Caroline started after they released each other. "We're just speechless."

"I do, however, have to have a talk with Drew," Norman demanded. "Drew, can you follow me out for a minute or so?"

The green haired man gulped and placed Elliott down. "Uh, sure, Mr. Maple," he breathed out.

As they both headed outside, May introduced her son to his new grandma. "Elliott, this is Mommy's mom, so you can call her Grandma Maple, okay?"

"Is Grandma Hayden still Elliott's grandma?" he inquired curiously.

May and Caroline giggled and nodded. "Yes, Sweetie, she's still your grandma too," May confirmed. "You have two grandmas now!"

The little boy cheered a little before running over to Caroline and embracing her. "It's nice to meet you, Elliott," she chimed happily. "He's adorable, May. He has his father's looks," she stated.

May nodded in agreement and smiled at the sight. "Yeah, he has Drew's looks."

* * *

><p>"Now I'm going to ask you a question and you better answer me honestly, understand?" Drew nodded and Norman's pacing stopped in front of him. "Did you know about the pregnancy six years ago?" he questioned.<p>

Drew cleared his throat as he was prepared to answer his question. "No, I didn't know about it." He saw Norman's face turn red and quickly continued. "In my defense though, she left immediately. After we…you know, did it, she started to avoid me and next thing I knew, she was gone. I tried to look for her everyday but I couldn't. Luckily, my mom set us up and we managed to patch up the troubles we had."

Norman searched his face for any bluff and sighed. "Do you plan on hurting her in any way like you did years ago?"

"Of course not, sir," he assured.

"If you were offered to become a super star, but had to leave your family behind, would you leave her and Elliott?" Norman was making sure that this man was dedicated to his family and wouldn't leave them, no matter what.

"Sir, I just found her, I don't want to lose her again. Besides, Elliott is my son, I can't leave him behind." Drew already saw these questions coming and he was beyond prepared. He was determined to pass this part of the relationship.

Drew noticed that Norman was still thinking of questions to bomb him with. "Sir, I know you don't trust me because of what happened before, but I assure you, I would never hurt your daughter the way I did before." Drew then looked straight into his eyes. "Even if you don't approve of me right now, I'm still going to continue living with her right now."

Norman placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. "Then I have no choice now, do I? Either way you would still stay with her, so welcome to the family, Drew."

A small faint smile played on Drew's face and he flicked his hair. "Thank you, Norman. I promise I won't let you down. I'll make May happy."

The old father simply laughed as he gave his son-in-law a slap on the back. "Oh, enough of this lovey mushy stuff. Have you been watching basketball lately? That was a crazy game last night."

Drew smirked. "No kidding, I was on the edge of my seat."

And with that, the two walked back to the house, learning new things about each other.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe this," Ash let out angrily.<p>

Misty and Dawn were currently at the guys' house and they had just informed them with the information Leaf had told them. They thought that maybe the guys would know a way to make Gary change his mind.

"According to Leaf, he's a completely new Gary, which is true," Dawn piped up as she was braiding her hair. "He's a complete jerk now."

"And the only reason why he hasn't done anything cruel to Leaf is because of Mandy," Misty added. "Leaf believes that if Mandy saw what a jerk he really is, then she wouldn't want to live with him anymore. He wants the child, that's why they're living together now."

"Oak's lost control," Paul confirmed. "His mind's already set to one thing and one thing only. And that is to make Green's life miserable."

Dawn pouted as she rested her head on the couch. "That's not fair for Leaf though," she murmured. "She doesn't even deserve it."

"I agree with Dawn," Misty said. "Leaf had a reason for leaving him. She just can't tell him because she made a promise that she wouldn't let Gary know about it at all," she explained. Misty sighed. "When did things get so complicated?"

Ash gave her a small smile and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "That's how life is, Mist. It's supposed to be complicated. It's to see who's strong enough to make something out of their lives."

Paul and Dawn simply stared at the two. "When the heck did Ash get so smart?" Dawn asked. Everyone laughed, even Paul, who chuckled. "I'm serious, guys!"

* * *

><p>"So how do you like this house so far, Mandy?" Leaf asked as she entered Mandy's room.<p>

It was around three in the afternoon and Mandy was currently playing in her room with the new toys Gary had gotten her. Upon seeing Leaf enter, the little girl looked up and grinned up at her mother. "Mandy likes it here, Mommy!" she said gleefully. "Does Mommy like it here?"

The older brunette smiled down at her daughter and proceeded to take a seat next to Mandy. She brought the little girl to the lap. "Yeah, Mommy likes it here too," she answered. "Now come on, it's time to take your nap."

"But Mandy isn't tired."

"Yes, Mandy is tired,' Leaf argued back. "If Mandy doesn't take a nap, how is she going to play with Daddy later when he comes back?" Mandy stayed quiet as she didn't know how to answer the question. Leaf grinned. "See, that's why Mandy has to sleep, okay?"

"Okay," Mandy agreed. She squirmed her way out of Leaf's grasp and ran over to her bed. She climbed on and pulled her blanket over her tiny figure. "Can Mommy sing for Mandy?"

Leaf thought about it and thought why not so she made her way over to the bed and sat at the edge of the bed. Mandy placed her head on her mother's stomach and looked up. "What song do you want to hear, Mandy?"

"Mommy can sing any song!"

Leaf pondered over the song she should sin and then remember she wrote one a while back so she decided to sing it. **(In Your Arms- Krissy and Ericka)**

_Keep me sane in your arms tonight  
>Hold me close that I might not fall<br>But I know that we might be destined for life  
>A tragic flaw of mine<br>Is running away_

_Remember those nights, we stayed up just laughing on the phone  
>Remember that time you said that "I would never let you go"<br>Remember that time when I said that we could never ever be  
>But I know it's a lie because deep down inside <em>

_Is a coward hiding underneath the silly games I play  
>With the batting of the lashes and all the charming things I say<br>I'm an addict to the fact that I could lure you in with just a crack of a smile  
>But with you I might want to stay a while<em>

_Keep me sane in your arms tonight  
>Hold me close that I might not fall<br>But I know that we might be destined for life  
>A tragic flaw of mine... <em>

_Running away from what we could have been  
>I'm losing myself in this game that we're in<br>I didn't mean to let you in now everything is backfiring _

_Keep me sane in your arms tonight  
>Hold me close that I might not fall<br>But I know that we might be destined for life  
>A tragic flaw of mine<br>Is running away_

After she was done with the song, Leaf looked down to see Mandy fast asleep already and a gentle smile made its way to her face. She kissed her daughter's forehead and carefully placed her head back onto the pillow. Leaf stood up and made her way to the door when she noticed Gary outside of the door.

"I'm guessing you were listening to the song?"

He smirked. "You guessed correctly, Leaf. So was that song for Danny?"

She glared at him and quietly closed Mandy's door. "Okay, you listen now and listen close. I didn't leave to stay with Danny, okay? All he did was help with the move to Village Bridge. It never had anything to do with living with him, so stop saying I left to be with him."

Gary simply kept that smirk on his face. "I don't know, Leaf. It really looked like you left to be with him," he taunted.

She prevented the growl that dared to escape her lips and decided to just walk away. "You know what, believe what you want. I'm tired of trying to explain things to you. It's no use anyway. If you're not going to believe me, then fine, just stop saying to my face. It irritates me."

* * *

><p>After Leaf left, she get her legs control her directions in the house and it led it to the home library. She, not caring where she went as long as it was away from Gary, entered. Tears were rolling down her face as she walked around the place. "Stupid Gary and his stupid assumptions," she mumbled to herself. "Why am I treated like the bad guy?"<p>

Her heart hurt badly. She felt as if everything around her was closing in on her as she wished none of this ever happened to her. If she didn't have made that promise, then she would've been happy by now. She let out a strangled sigh and decided to just take a seat on one of the seats and laid her head down on the table, crying silently to herself. Within minutes later, she was already sound asleep.

* * *

><p>As Leaf walked away, Gary's jaw tightened. He didn't even try to stop her as he started to make his way to the opposite direction. He made his way to the living room, only to find his grandfather in there, watching some television. "I heard some arguing upstairs. Is everything okay with you two?"<p>

"Everything is peachy fine, Grandpa," he grunted as he took a seat on one of the couches. "I don't get it. Leaf doesn't want to tell me the truth, yet when I make my assumptions, she blows up in my face. That's not fair; I deserve to know the truth."

The professor looked over at his grandson. He wanted the two to make up faster but what could he have done? "Gary," he started. "Have you ever considered how hard it is for her to tell you? If the reason she left you was important, it's going to be pretty difficult to tell you. You can't expect her to just tell it you directly."

"What are you saying here?"

His grandfather sighed. "I'm saying you should give her some time to tell you. Stop assuming things nonsense about her if you know it's not true. It's only going to make it harder for her, Gary."

"How do you know she's going to tell me eventually?" he inquired silently.

Professor Oak smiled. "Because I know that she wants things the way it used to be just as much as you do." The words struck Gary hard. "I can see it in her eyes, Gary. She wants everything back to normal between you two."

"I'm not going to believe that until I hear it from her." Gary abruptly stood up and made his way out of the door and decided to confront Leaf about everything. He searched everywhere with no avail of finding her. His last hope was the library. He walked in, only to see that her head was laid on her arms on the table as she sat on the chair. She looked so peaceful that he didn't have the heart to wake her so he just sat across the seat from her and waited for her to wake up.

When he saw her shiver from the cold, he quickly got up and went to fetch a blanket for her. After he brought it back, he gently placed it over her shoulders and sat back down on the seat across from her. It was only then that he noticed the tear streaks on her face. His stomach churned. _He _was the one who made her cry. He felt his stomach drop as he rubbed his thumb against the streaks. "I'm sorry, Leaf."

* * *

><p><strong>Yay, we have a happy Contestshipping family now! (: Yeah, I felt the need to tie up that loose end. And now that I have, we can focus on Oldrival a little more, but don't worry, there will be the standard four shippings, I promise.<strong>

**SO HOW WAS IT? GOOD, OKAY, BAD? TELL ME IN YOUR REVIEWS! IF YOU GUYS REVIEW AND SAY MOTIVATING WORDS, I MIGHT UPDATE NEXT WEEK CAUSE I'M OUT OF SCHOOL ON WEDNESDAY! WHEE, SO REVIEW! **


	20. We're Going on a Vacation

**Ugh, I hate job hunting. It's so much harder than I thought it would be. And then there's summer reading for AP lang. Has anyone ever read Scarlet Letter? It's so boring!**

**Anyway, I'm back again for another chapter and before I forget, Pooh, I've never seen Autumn's Concerto before. I've only heard about it from my friends saying it was a good drama. The only drama I've ever seen is the Total Drama series…so…totes awks.**

**BUT ANYWAY, thank you all who reviewed last chapter. I appreciated all your reviews and for those who liked the ending, thank you very much. :3 It was a last minute thing that I thought of, aha. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. I just own the ones you don't recognize. **

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Twenty-We're Going on a Vacation <strong>_

It was about seven in the evening when Leaf woke up. She sat up and stretched out her limbs. It was only then that she noticed the blanket on her back. The brunette removed it from her back and started to make her way back to the living room. When she made it to her destination, she noticed that no one was there and decided to check Mandy's room to see if she was there. When the brunette didn't see the energetic five year old, her mother instincts kicked in and she started to search around the house.

When she heard quiet laughing from the kitchen, she quickly made her way to the laugh and was relieved to see Gary and Professor Oak with her. When the professor caught her at the doorway, he smiled and gestured her over to the table, where her daughter and professor sat. Upon seeing her mother arrive, Mandy immediately grinned up at her and gave Leaf a hug, a gesture the older brunette returned.

"Glad to see that you've finally decided to join us," Professor Oak greeted. "Gary's making us dinner by the way."

Upon hearing that, she turned her head to the older man standing behind counter, putting the portions of food onto their plate. When he caught her stare, he simply smirked back and placed the now empty pot in the sink. He then proceeded to bring the plates over to the table, placing it in front of each person. "It's probably not the best, but hey, I tried," he said humbly. Then he went to the counter to take get a bowl of salad and placed it in the middle of the table. "Here's some salad to fit the theme."

Leaf raised an eyebrow upon hearing the tone. Since she and Mandy moved in, he had not used that tone. The brunette simply shook it off though when she felt her stomach grumbling of hunger. So she decided to try his spaghetti. When she placed the noodles in her mouth, the flavor of tomato from the sauce was dancing on her tongue. She had never tried something as amazing as his spaghetti.

When Gary noticed that she was surprisingly quiet, he smirked. "How is it, Leaf?" he inquired arrogantly.

The brunette resisted the urge to roll her eyes and swallowed the noodles in her mouth before answering him. "It's good," she admitted. "How'd you learn how to cook like that?"

Gary chuckled. "I found the recipe online, in case you were wondering."

A small smile made its way to her face as she heard the chuckle. _It's been a while,_ she thought happily. "How about the salad?" she asked. "Did you find a recipe for that too?"

"Well obviously," he answered as if it wasn't obvious.

Leaf giggled. _Maybe things are slowly getting back to how it was before. _She then noticed that something was missing in the salad. "Wait, why aren't there any of those small tomatoes in the salad?"

Upon hearing the question, Gary gulped and exchanged looks with the little girl in front of him. It seemed that when she heard the question, she started to take interest in her spaghetti more and more and his grandfather was enjoying his share so that didn't help him. He turned back to the brunette and she had an eyebrow raised. "You know how much I hate tomatoes," he finally declared. "Besides, Mandy doesn't seem to like it anymore than I do."

"That doesn't mean you should leave that out. What message do you think that's sending to her?" Leaf argued.

"Well we can't force her to eat it now, can we?" he retorted.

"The sauce of the spaghetti is made of tomatoes!" she pointed out. "So you two are technically eating it as we speak. So what's wrong with eating it with salad?"

Gary rolled his eyes upon hearing her arguments. "It's different, Leaf. The sauce has other things mixed into it. And besides, if we're eating it already then why make such a big deal out of it?"

Leaf let out a frustrated sigh. "It's showing Mandy that it's okay to skip out on the healthy food."

When Professor Oak felt like someone was going to start throwing their food at someone, he decided to break in between the two. "Now, now, let's not fight now. Mandy's here and you two don't want to show her a real bad example, now do we?"

The two adults turned their heads to their daughter, who was sitting there calmly as if nothing was happening. She was simply enjoying her food. They both then exchanged looks and sighed. "Let's just let this subject drop," Gary suggested.

Leaf nodded. "Fine, I'll let it drop for now."

And so with that, the two went back to eating their dinner, having small talks in between. "So, Gary, when are you going to tell her?" Professor Oak asked.

This caught everyone's attention as they looked up from their plates. Mandy excitingly raised her hand. "Can Mandy tell Mommy?"

Gary chuckled and smiled at her. "Of course, you may, Mandy."

The little girl turned to her mother, who was confused about everything that was happening. Mandy cleared her throat to make it more dramatic. "Okay," the younger brunette started. "Tomorrow Daddy is going to take us all the way to Pallet Town!"

Leaf furrowed her brows as she made sure she heard her daughter clearly. She then diverted her attention to Gary. "You're kidding, right? Mandy has to go to school. This isn't time for a vacation."

Gary simply waved it off as if it wasn't a huge problem. "There's nothing to worry about, Leaf. We can just homeschool her. Besides, Mandy's a smart girl."

"Did you already alert the school about her going to be absence?" she questioned. He nodded as she sighed. "Well then I guess we're gonna go. Are you going to tag along, Professor?"

The professor shook his head. "Unfortunately, I can't come along. Since Gary is going to be away, I'll have to stay to finish the research he was working on. But please tell your parents I said hi," he answered smiling. "Oh, and Mandy," he started, turning to his great-granddaughter. "Your mother's parents are your grandparents."

"So we're going to see Grandma and Grandpa?" Mandy asked excitingly to Leaf. Her eyes were gleaming of joy.

Leaf giggled at the sight and nodded. "Yeah, we're going to see Grandma and Grandpa. Alright, let's finish dinner so you can take a bath and we can help you pack later, okay?" she planned. The little girl nodded to the plans and started to quickly chow down on her portion of the dinner. "But you have to have a little salad after that, okay?"

Mandy started to pout at Leaf, hoping it'll help her get out of eating her greens but the older brunette simply shook her head. The little girl then tried to work her way at her father, who resisted the urge to let her get out of it. He was about to say something when he caught his grandfather give him the stare and felt Leaf's foot stomp on his. "You have to eat it, Mandy. If you want to grow up to good at soccer, you'll have to eat your greens."

When she realized that it was going to be futile to pout, Mandy just gave up and started to slowly eat her salad. When everyone was done, Gary had decided to wash the dishes while Leaf took Mandy upstairs to take her bath and then start packing. While he was washing the dishes, Professor Oak stepped into the kitchen.

"So you're going to take her to Pallet to try to get things normal again?" he inquired. When he didn't say anything, the professor continued. "I can watch Mandy for you two."

"No," Gary said as he shook his head. "I want her to meet her grandparents. Besides, you're going to be busy anyway."

The professor chuckled. "That's true," he agreed. Then he smiled. "I'm glad you've finally decided to be patient with her," he admitted. "You know, during dinner, I felt like things were starting to get normal again."

"Why do you think that?" his grandson asked.

The professor smiled upon remembering the old times. "It reminds me of you two in your younger years. You two would always argue over the littlest things, remember?"

Gary chuckled as he remembered the recent argument before smiling. "Yeah, just like old times."

* * *

><p>It was ten at night when Leaf was finishing her luggage. Right when she finished, Gary strolled into the room from his shower. "You just finished?" he asked as the tired brunette lying tiredly on the bed.<p>

She nodded. "Yeah, I had to make sure I had everything I would need and everything," she answered. "Did you pack yet?"

"Yeah, I packed right after I booked our tickets," he responded as he sat on his half of the bed. "We're going to leave after breakfast tomorrow," he informed.

Leaf nodded drowsily as she tried to keep herself awake. "Okay," she yawned. "Are we going to be staying over at my parent's house?"

Gary thought over the question for a while. "Well, I think your parents aren't going to have two open rooms, so I was thinking my house since we're neighbors anyway. What do you think?" He turned his head to hear her answer but heard nothing from her. When he glanced down, he saw that she was sound asleep already. Without saying anything more, Gary smiled down at the sleeping brunette and pushed some loose strands from her face. That's when he started to play with her hair and then, subconsciously placed a small gently kiss on her forehead.

When he realized what he had done, he retreated away from her, face crimson red. He glanced down at her and felt his eyes soften. "How is it that you always get to me, Leaf?"

* * *

><p>"<strong>Passengers, we will be arriving to Pallet Town, Kanto soon. Please place everything back to where it was before and lay back to relax. We'll be landing soon." <strong>With those words, the PA system went off and the plane attendant was back to helping the passengers.

Leaf turned to Mandy, who was sitting next to her. "We're almost there, Mandy," Leaf informed. "Are you done with your snack?" Mandy nodded and Leaf helped her clean up.

In half an hour, the plane landed and the family of three exited to the airport, waiting to pick up their luggage. Since Leaf didn't want Mandy to get lost in the crowd, Gary had offered to get the luggage while the two waited at the seating area.

It wasn't long until he came back with a duffle bag on his right shoulder and a suitcase. Leaf figured that it probably wasn't going to be a long trip so she and Mandy decided to combine their things. When Gary got to them, he told them that he had rented a car for them. They then followed him to the car and waited patiently as he loaded their things in the trunk.

When he returned to the car, he turned around and grinned at Mandy. "Ready to meet Grandma and Grandpa?"

* * *

><p>"Oh, my, LEAF, my sweet little daughter," Mrs. Green cried joyfully as she saw her daughter at the door. "It's been so long. You've gotten so tall and you look thinner. Have you been eating right? Oh, forget it, I'm just so glad to see you again," the older lady went on. She then noticed Gary beside her and Mandy next to her. Then her eyes widened as she made the connection to her daughter and the younger girl.<p>

"Say," she started. "Is that little girl my granddaughter?" she asked excitingly.

Leaf looked over at Gary who just shrugged nervously and turned back to her mother to give her a nervous laugh. "Well she's with us, so I guess you know the answer, Mom." Leaf then brought Mandy closer to the older Green. "Mandy, meet your grandmother."

Mandy grinned cheekily up at her grandmother. "Hi Grandmother, I'm Mandy!"

The older woman simply squealed as she brought to the little girl into her arms. Leaf's father, thinking something may have happened, quickly rushed out to the door. When he saw that it was his daughter, he smiled and gave her a hug. Then he noticed Gary and narrowed his eyes discreetly at him.

When Mrs. Green brought the two girls inside, Leaf's father stayed at the door and stopped Gary before he can make it in. "Is she your child?" he inquired.

Gary nodded. "Yes, she is. And if you're going to ask anymore questions, I lost memory for the last six years and I just recently remembered. That's when I figured out she was my daughter, so I basically knew nothing until now."

"Is this all an act to get revenge?"

Gary stayed quiet for a while as those words hit him. "N-no sir. Well, at first, it was kind of-"

"What?" He was getting angry, Gary saw that.

"Just let me finish first. It was to get revenge at first, but I've decided to give her time to tell me why she left. That's the whole reason why we're here," he explained. "So if you think about it, it's all a plan for us to get back together again."

There was a look of hesitant on his face as Mr. Green studied Gary's face. It took him a while but he finally nodded in approval. "I'm going to give you one more chance, okay? So don't ruin that chance and hurt her, alright?"

Gary's face lifted as he saw the look of approval. "Seriously, you're letting me stay with Leaf?"

He nodded. "It seems like you really want to be with her again, so I'll give you one chance. Just don't be a fool and lose that chance, alright?"

Gary smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Green."

* * *

><p><strong>OKAY, so like, originally, it was supposed to be much longer like what they would do at Kanto and such, but I decided to cut it in half because I'm tired as heck right now and I have to wake up early the next day soo there are mistakes somewhere in this chapter. I apologize deeply for that. I really hope you all liked it though. I think this is one of the chapters that I'm really proud of because, unlike the other chapters, this didn't take me so long to type it.<strong>

**ANYWAY, soo, we see that there are small approvals here and there. Ha, ha, don't worry guys, next chapter will have Ikari, Poke and Contest. And, I have one more event planned. There is reason why Pallet Town was chosen and I'll give you guys one more hint. In one of the previous chapters, it was mentioned that Leaf's mother had to go see the doctor. Hmm, what can it be ;D **

**REVIEW GUYS! I don't know if I say this enough, but your reviews mean so much to me and everything. You guys have no idea how happy I get when I see a review alert and when it's a long review, just makes my day. SOO, review? :3 OH, AND DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT MY JUST UPDATED OF BANDITS AND ASSASSINS AND POLL.. KAY, BYE **


	21. Vacation Gone Wrong?

**I'm so sorry I couldn't update last week, guys! I was super busy that day and I knocked out just when I planned to type up the chapter so I apologize for that. **

**For that one person who asked why Leaf was suddenly so happy in the last chapter: Remember that she and Gary have to pretend to be happy in front of her. So if she was being sad and all, it wouldn't really work out. **

**Anyway, thank you all for reviewing! For you guys who didn't, hate you forever. Aha, I'm just kidding! I appreciate every single one I receive and I swear I would never take you guys for granted. Anyway, let's get a move on to the next chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I just own the characters you don't recognize**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Twenty One-Vacation Gone Wrong?<strong>_

"Oh, my, gosh, Misty, did you hear yet?" Dawn interrogated as she barged into the guys' house. Misty was currently with Ash over there, watching a movie. Behind the bluenette was the happy Hayden family, though they didn't seem happy that they were dragged there against their wills.

Misty turned to welcome Elliott a hug, who ran to her immediately. Paul walked out of his room and looked downstairs, only to find his girlfriend at the door. "What's with all the noise, Troublesome?"

She ignored her nickname and gestured him to come down from his room, which he complied to. An angry Dawn was not a pretty sight. Paul would know. Once he made it downstairs, Dawn dragged May and Drew into the house and had them sit down on one of the open couches.

When everyone was settled down, she grinned up at them. "I just received news that Leaf, Gary, and Mandy are in Pallet Town right now," she announced.

Elliott, who was too distracted with the movie, didn't hear it while everyone else just stared at Dawn with weird looks. "And you're telling us this because…" Ash trailed off.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "I'm telling you guys this because I think we should go there too!"

"I don't think we should go," Drew spoke up.

"Me too," Misty seconded. "I mean, we shouldn't ruin their fun times by showing up and everything," she added.

Dawn turned to Ash, May, and her boyfriend for their thoughts. May shrugged. "I'm sorry, Dawn. I would go if this was any other situations, but their relationship is pretty complicated right now. We shouldn't ruin it for them."

Ash and Paul nodded in agreement. Upon seeing this, Dawn frowned and pouted at them. Then she had a brilliant idea. "How about we spy on them?" she suggested. "They won't have to know we're there too! We'll just spy on them and when something's about to go bad, we'll put on disguises and try to help them through it."

"It's not going to be easy," Paul said. "And do we have to be involved with every relationship?"

Dawn nodded. "Yes, of course we have to. If we want a happy ending for everyone, then we have to be involved somehow."

When she saw that Misty and Ash were back to watching their movie together, she frowned as she figured they didn't hear about her plan. When she turned to May and Drew, she saw the two play with their son. Then she smirked. "Elliott," she called. The little boy perked upon hearing his name and went to her obediently. "Did you know that Mandy is at Pallet Town right now? Don't you want to see her?"

He looked at Dawn confusingly. "Where's Pallet Town at?"

"It's all the way in the Kanto region," Dawn explained. "It's very far away from here."

Upon hearing about the distance, Elliott immediately ran over to his parents, who frowned at Dawn. "We have to go to Pallet Town," he declared to his parents. "I want to see Mandy."

"You have to go to school, Elliott," May reasoned. "You can't go."

The little boy turned to his father, who didn't buy the puppy face. "No can do, Elliott. You have to go to school."

Elliott then pouted and started to look away from his parents. He stuck his nose up in the air and turned to Dawn. "Aunt Dawn, can I go with you then?"

Dawn grinned at the question. "Of course you can, Elliott." She smirked at his parents. "So are you guys going to let _me _babysit him?"

They gulped at the thought of Dawn watching Elliott. For all they knew, she could corrupt him. The two then diverted their attention to Elliott, who was smirking along.

May turned to Drew and frowned at him. "I blame you for smirking too much."

"Me? Why are you blaming me?"

"If you didn't smirk so much, then maybe he wouldn't be doing it right now. Do you realize how much he looks like you right now?" she retorted. Before he was about to retaliate, she sighed. "Fine, we'll go."

"What are you doing, June? If we give in, it's like we're giving him whatever he wants. The last thing I want for our son is spoiling him."

The brunette stomped on his foot. "You don't think I want that? I hate spoiling him too but would you really trust Dawn to watch over him? Imagine all the shopping that she's going to take him on."

Drew imagined his son being dragged along the mall and everything. Then, the thought of Dawn forgetting about Elliott while she shopped made it into a terrifying thought. "You know what; I think it'll be a great idea if we came too. What do you think, Elliott?"

Upon hearing that his parents will tag along, he grinned and ran back to wrap his arms around them. "Yay, Elliott is happy now!"

That was all it took for the two parents to smile. Dawn inwardly squealed to herself as she got one couple to come along with her. Now she just had to work on Misty and Ash. "Hey, Ash, don't you want to visit your mother?"

It caught his attention, as Dawn had assumed. "Well now that you mention it, I haven't seen her in a while."

"Then that means you should come along with us so you can visit her!" Then she turned to Misty. "Oh and your sisters are in Kanto too, right Misty?"

Misty rolled her sea green eyes. "And what makes you think I want to visit them? They're most likely not home anyway."

When Dawn couldn't think of any other way to convince Misty, she decided to just beg. "Come on, please, Misty? I mean, Ash's mom would love to see you there with Ash, right?"

The orange haired woman sighed. Dawn was relentless and she wasn't going to stop until they had all agreed to tag along with her to Kanto. "Fine," she finally said. The bluenette cheered in glee as her friend giggled. "You're welcome, Dawn."

Finally, the woman turned to her boyfriend, who was scowling. "No, I'm not going to tag along," he said bluntly.

Dawn pouted and narrowed her eyes at him. "If you don't want to tag along then you can just stay here with Vanessa." She smirked upon seeing the nervousness in his eyes. "And yes, I do have her number, so I can call her anytime I want and tell her and you need her."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You're bluffing," he stated.

His girlfriend simply shook her head. "Nope, her number is right over here," she said, showing him the phone contact labeled Vanessa.

Seeing his two options, the plum headed man sighed and nodded. "Fine, I'm in."

Dawn jumped in glee and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before heading for the door. "I've already texted for a private jet there so be packed by an hour and a half. Come on, Misty. If we want to make it there to watch their date, we have to go right now!"

"Well, June, you heard her. Looks like we'll have to be speeding on our way home and on our way back here. Make sure Elliott's seatbelt is going to be tight."

"Does that mean Daddy's going to drive really fast?" Elliott questioned in excitement. Upon seeing the nod from his father, the little boy immediately rushed to the car outside of the house and May sighed. She stood up with Drew and the two started to make their way to the car and soon, they were gone.

Misty stood up soon after and stalked Dawn out to her own respective car since she drove herself to watch the movie with Ash.

And at one thirty, the gang was off to Pallet Town, Kanto.

* * *

><p>In Kanto, Leaf, Gary, and Mandy had left for a carnival that morning and were enjoying every bit of it. When they arrived, they had gone on the child rides with Mandy and afterwards for lunch, they enjoyed the food there. Right when they were done, they had decided to play some carnival games.<p>

"Come on, Daddy, Mandy wants the giant doggy!" the little girl cheered on.

Leaf smirked as she watched the man before her struggle with the game. It was just a simple game of popping balloons with darts. If he popped more than ten in a row, he would win the giant prize, but it had to be straight because there would be no other chances. So far, he had popped six. "Having a little trouble there?" she piped from the sidelines, behind Mandy.

"You're hilarious," he said. He did the calculations, brought the dart back and threw it, making another pop. Seven now. All he had to do now was to pop three more.

After three more minutes, Gary had lost. He had made it to nine and missed the last one. Mandy was saddened by this and when it looked like she was going to cry, the worker there felt bad and decided to offer on the giant plush animals. This made the little girl happy.

"So what should we do next?" Leaf inquired as she scanned over the map.

Before anyone can say anything, a ride caught Mandy's attention as she had stopped walking. "Mandy wants to go on that one!"

It looked like a paragliding kite, enough to fit three people in each set. Watching it, it looked fun and exciting as it spun around in circles, going up then down. Leaf turned to Gary. "Do you think it's safe for her to go on?"

Gary watched as a little boy and girl exited through the gate from the ride. "Well if they made it out alive, then I'm sure Mandy is going to be fine." He held his hand out to Mandy, who grabbed it happily. The little brunette then turned to her mother, holding her hand out to her. Leaf smiled and reached to hold her daughter's hand.

The wait wasn't that long. When they entered, Gary carried Mandy up to the seat, laying her down in the middle before lying down next to her. On the other side was Leaf. The control guy walked by and pulled the safety bar down to prevent them from falling. "Hold onto the bars okay, Mandy?" Leaf warned.

The little girl nodded and gripped the bar firmly, excited for the ride to start. After making sure that the belts were on tightly, the ride started. It was moving in circles, slowly making its way up higher and then started to move faster, going up and down as if they were paragliding down. Mandy was grinning like crazy every time they started to glide down and laughed as it went on. Leaf and Gary were smiling as they heard the soft laughter coming from their daughter.

When the ride ended, they waited for the belt to be off before heading out the gate. They were filled with laughter as they continued to walk around the park. Mandy spotted a teacup ride and immediately pulled her parents towards it. The line was a bit longer but they were patient.

When they entered, they closed the door and sat around the spinning switch. Soon, it started to spin around. "Daddy can spin it to go faster!" Mandy announced.

Leaf giggled. "Okay, Daddy will. Gary, you heard your daughter, make us spin faster."

The man grumbled before spinning the wheel, making them spin faster. Mandy started to laugh while Leaf just smiled at her daughter. Upon seeing the two of them happy, a small, barely visible, smile made its way to Gary's face.

When the ride was over, the three of them exited with smiles on their faces. They were about to go to another ride that attracted Mandy when Leaf received a call. Unknown to Mandy, Leaf's hand had slipped from hers and the older brunette stood in the middle of the place as she had just heard the news.

Gary, noticing the missing brunette, turned around and when he saw that tears were falling down her face, he immediately ran back to her, carrying Mandy in the process. "Leaf, what's wrong?"

"Okay, bye Dad," she choked out. She wiped the tears from her face and then looked up at the two pairs of eyes on her. "Gary, that was my dad," she breathed out.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he held onto her shoulders. He had already placed his daughter down on the ground and she stayed at the spot as she watched her parents.

"Mommy, what's wrong?" she inquired.

Gary looked down at her with soft eyes and brought his finger up to his lips, indicating that she shouldn't speak right now. She got the message and decided to just stand there. "Can you drop me off at the hospital right now, Gary?" Leaf asked. "It's an emergency."

* * *

><p>When they arrived at Pallet Town's best hospital, Leaf had told Mandy to go back with Gary while she went in by herself. Gary had asked if she wanted him to go in with her while Mandy stayed with Daisy, his sister, but the older brunette turned down the offer. When she saw the car leave, she started to make her way into the hospital.<p>

Upon entering, she immediately asked for the floor her mother was in and when she got the information, she quickly made her way there. When she got the floor her mother was in, she was met with her father, who was in the waiting room. "Dad," she cried as she ran up to him. Hearing her, Leaf's father turned around and pulled his daughter into a hug. "What happened to Mom?"

He sighed as he took a seat and signaled her to do the same thing, which she did. "She was gardening today and just fainted. I was doing some paperwork in the kitchen when I heard her coughing and when I headed outside to check up on her, she was on the grass."

"How did it just happen so sudden?" she inquired.

At this question, her father bit his lips as he hesitated to answer the question. He debated and realized that she would know it one way or another so he decided to just tell her now. "A few years back, your mother found out that she has lung cancer and had stopped taking medications because she thought she was strong enough to go through this."

Tears were slowly streaming down her face. "W-why would she do that?" The whole cancer thing had brought back the unpleasant memories from her past. She remembered when she learned that Gary had cancer. Hearing this broke her heart just like how it broke her heart years ago.

Her father smiled sadly down at her. "Because she's an independent person," he said. "You know how stubborn she can be, and this is no exception."

Before he can continue to say anything else, the doctor walked out of her mother's room and the both of them stood up. "Go see your mother, Leaf. I'll ask the doctor about it."

The brunette obeyed her father as she entered the room. In front of her was her sick mother, who was resting on the bed, wide awake and looking out the window. When she saw her daughter enter, she diverted her attention to Leaf. She saw the tear stained face of her daughter. "Leafy," she greeted.

"You lied, Mom," she said in a whisper. "You told me you were doing great when I came yesterday, you're not doing great," she sobbed as her voice cracked.

"I didn't lie, Leaf," her mother defended. "It's completely different."

"No, it's not," she cried. "Why didn't you tell me? I know we lost touch, but I never changed my number. You could've called me and told me and I would've rushed back here. You could've told me _yesterday,_" she ranted on, tears streaming down her face again.

Leaf's mother smiled sadly at her. "I didn't want you to worry about me, Leafy. And we were all so happy yesterday. That wasn't the right time for that."

"Well now it's time," Leaf retorted.

She shook her head. "No it's not, Leaf. It's just another obstacle in the way."

Leaf sniffed as she remembered her mother telling her that when she was a kid and tears were now uncontrollable for her. The brunette started to make her way to her mother's bed and hugged her. "I love you, Mommy."

"I love you too, Leafy."

And then, her father came into the room. He saw the two women in his life and went to comfort the two as they both cried. Little did they know that he two had a few tears going down his face.

* * *

><p><em>Ding dong.<em>

The sound rang through the house as Mandy was coloring. Gary answered the door, only to find the happy Hayden family. Confused as to how they knew where to find him, Gary allowed them to enter the house. Elliott, spotting Mandy at the coffee table coloring, immediately ran to the little girl. When she saw him, they both started to chat animatedly about their lives.

May looked around for her brunette friend and when she saw no sign of her, she turned to Gary. "Where's Leaf?"

Gary sighed as he led them to the kitchen. They sat around the table as Gary offered them some apple slices. "She got a call from her dad earlier. I don't know what's wrong but she's at the hospital right now."

May gasped as she abruptly stood up. "That's horrible," she stated. "I should go and see if she's okay."

She was about to take her leave when Drew grabbed her by the wrist. May turned around to see him shaking his head. "She needs some time alone, May. We shouldn't bother her."

Knowing that he had a point, May reluctantly sat back down next to Drew. "I hope she's feeling okay," she murmured.

"We're all hoping that," Gary said. Then he changed the subject. "So how did you guys know that we were vacationing here?"

Upon hearing the question, May looked at Drew and slapped him lightly to answer the question. The green haired man looked nervously at his best friend. "Uh, well you see…the internet?"

A vein was visible on his forehead as he face-palmed with May. He opened his mouth to yell at them when Mandy ran in. "Daddy, Mandy and Elliott wants to go to the park."

May's ears perked up at the announcement and immediately volunteered to take them. Without hearing what they had to say, May immediately dragged Mandy and Elliott out the door and to the park. All that to avoid the talk with Gary. So now it was just Drew and Gary.

Gary chuckled at the scene and the dumbfounded Drew. "Don't worry about it; let's talk about something else now."

Drew smirked as he flicked his hair. "Okay, so why are you guys really here?"

Gary narrowed his eyes at him. "How did you guys really know that we were here in the first place?"

"I asked first," Drew retorted.

Gary sighed as he found it ridiculous to argue about something that little so he just decided to tell Drew. "I figured that by coming back here that we'll be fine again. I'm hoping that if we came back here, that she'll tell me the reason why she left me years ago."

Drew saw the sadness flicker in his friend's eyes. "You just have to be patient."

"I know, Grandpa told me the same thing," he said. "So how's life with May back in your life again with Elliott?" He decided to change the subject.

Drew smirked and flicked his hair again. "Well, it's going good. It's great to have her back in my life again. She's great to tease, she's nice to have around, and I just love her so much." His voice was sincere, Gary heard it. It was evident that he's head over heels for May. "I'm planning on proposing soon," he declared.

Gary smiled at his friend's happiness. "Go for it," he said, "I'm sure she'll say yes."

"Okay," Drew started. "Let's just stop with the girl talk and watch some sports."

Gary laughed. "Alright, let's go." And the two went to the living room, turning on the television. It was soon interrupted by another doorbell. The brunet answered the door, only to find his other two friends, Ash and Paul. "Where are Dawn and Misty?"

"Well on our way here, we saw May at the park with Elliott and Mandy so Misty and Dawn decided to join them," Ash answered. "So let us in now."

He opened the door wider for them to enter. When he entered, they joined Drew by sitting around the television. "So where's Leaf?" Ash inquired.

"Long story short, Leaf's at the hospital right now. She didn't tell me what happened though." When they didn't say anything, Gary continued. "So how did you guys really know we were here?"

"Dawn," they answered in unison. "She blackmailed us into coming," Paul added.

Gary chuckled. "She's good at that type of stuff, you know," he said.

Before anyone can say anything, the door opened to reveal Leaf. She was dropped off by her father and when she entered the house, the brunette immediately ran into Gary's arms, burying her face deep on his chest as she fought the tears that dared to spill.

The guys, feeling the awkwardness, decided to take their leave as they felt that the two needed their alone time. They kicked themselves out of the house and then it was just the two.

Gary wrapped his arms around her as he rested his chin on top of her head. "Where's Mandy?" she mumbled.

"She's at the park with May and Elliott," he answered. "Dawn and Misty are with them," he added.

"That's good," she choked. "Because I don't want her to see me in this state," she said before the tears streamed down her face again, soaking Gary's shirt.

The brunet didn't mind though. Instead, his arms around her tightened as he kept telling her that it was going to be okay over and over again.

* * *

><p><strong>Whee, and I'm done with this chapter! Yeah, if you haven't noticed already, part of this this chapter was inspired by The Last Song, which I do not own, but do recommend watching! C:<strong>

**Oh and that one ride in the middle, I didn't know how to describe it so just google this: Carnival ride Cliffhanger. It's the first picture basically. Yeah, I went on that ride with my friend on fourth of July and I was terrified at first. But it wasn't so bad c: **

**ANYWAY, I'll try to update soon but until then, please review in the funky little box down there! It would make me a super duper happy author, you know…c: And if you want me to update faster, just leave your wonderful long reviews :3 OH, and don't forget to vote on my poll! Okay, byee.**


	22. Plans Gone Wrong

**Oh my, what is this, like my third update within ONE WEEK? That's a new record. If you're all wondering why I'm updating like this, it's because since I'm starting junior year soon, I won't have time to update because I have start getting my priorities straight, so I'm attempting to finish this story hopefully soon before August 21. **

**Anyway, thank you all who reviewed. I appreciated every one and I'll be hoping that you would continue reviewing and make me a happy author (: **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I just own the plot and the few characters you don't recognize. **

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Twenty Two-Plans Gone Wrong<strong>_

Gary was patient with Leaf as she cried. He didn't move nor did he say anything about his soaking shirt. "It's going to be okay," he kept saying to comfort her. He hasn't even tried to ask her what was wrong. He just wanted her to feel better. They stood like that for fifteen minutes before her sobbing turned to occasional sniffles. "You okay?" he asked, looking down.

She gave him a small nod as she released her grip on him and took a seat on the couch. Gary followed her actions and took a seat next to her, offering her his shoulder. She gratefully accepted it and laid her head on it while he wrapped his arms around her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Upon hearing the question, her eyes started to water again. Gary, sensing that she was going to cry again, quickly grabbed the box of tissue next to them and handed it to her. She accepted it and blew her nose into it before taking deep breaths to answer the question. "I-it's about my m-m-mom," she choked. "S-she's diagnosed with lung c-cancer," she sobbed. Right when those words left her mouth, she cried again.

Gary could only sit there and tell her that it was going to be okay in a hushed tone. What else was he supposed to say other than that? "She's going to be fine," he soothed. He hated seeing her like this. Sure he was a total jerk to her when he had his memories restored, but that didn't mean that he wanted to see her cry. Seeing her cry was the one thing that he hated to see the most because it meant that he wasn't there to protect her.

"I'm hoping she'll be fine," she whispered quietly.

"She's a strong woman, Leaf," he soothed. "I'm sure she'll be able to make it through this."

The brunette sighed as she sniffed. "She stopped taking her medications because she thought she was strong enough to make it through this," she breathed out. "Look what happened." She swallowed the lump in her throat before continually on. "I'm just so scared that I'll lose her, Gary. I don't want to lose her."

The brunet felt helpless. He didn't know what he was supposed to say at times like these. "Leaf," he started. "If you're afraid of losing her, then spend as much time with her as possible. At least if she's gone, then she'll have good memories to bring with her. Besides, I'm sure she'll be glad to be spending time with you again."

When he didn't hear a response from her, he turned to look at her, only to find her fast asleep. He didn't blame her for falling asleep on him like that. She was probably crying at the hospital as well so of course she'd be tired. Gary sighed as he carefully stood up and carried Leaf bridal style to their room. He'd figure it was better for her to sleep in a bed rather than the couch.

Once he placed her down on the bed, he brushed some loose strands of hair from her face and wiped the remaining tears from her face with his thumb. Consciously this time, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips before letting her have her rest and headed downstairs.

When he reached downstairs, he heard voices coming from the other side of the door and figured it was his daughter returning home from the park with May and Elliott, so he went outside to warn her that her mother was asleep.

"Daddy!" she cried happily upon seeing the older man walk out from the house. She ran to him with open arms and he scooped her up from the ground. "I had fun at the park."

He chuckled as he placed a kiss on her forehead. "That's good. Now, Daddy's going to need Mandy to be quiet because Mommy is sleeping, okay?"

The little girl nodded before squirming out of his arms and running into the house to get herself a bottle of water, which was later followed by Elliott. When she was inside, Gary turned to May, who had brought along Misty and Dawn, who were also accompanied by their respective boyfriends. "How is she?" Ash asked as he recalled the crying brunette earlier.

Gary sighed as he took a seat on the porch swing. His friends walked closer and sat around him, as if he was the teacher ready to read them a story. "She cried for a while and now she's asleep," he said.

"What happened at the hospital?" May inquired worriedly.

Gary sighed as he remembered the tears that streamed down her face when he asked that question. "…She learned that her mother's diagnosed with lung cancer."

The girls gasped. "Oh my gosh," Dawn exasperated. "It must've been horrible to find out about it now," she said sadly.

Gary nodded. "I felt so helpless when I tried to comfort her. I didn't even know what to say."

"You can always take her to dinner so she can feel a little better," Drew suggested. Now, all eyes were on him. "It may not completely take her mind off of her mother but at least she'll be doing something."

"And where do you suppose I take her out to, oh great Drew," he asked sarcastically.

The green haired man smirked and flicked his hair. "The hell I would know. I'm not even from this region. You should know since you're from here."

May narrowed her eyes at Drew. "You're going to have to stop with cursing."

"And why is that, June?"

The brunette narrowed her eyes at the nickname before stomping on his foot. "Because Elliott's going to pick it up, stupid."

He simply rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Gary. "Now where were we before I was rudely interrupted?" He smirked at the seething brunette and inwardly chuckled.

"Dinner," Paul answered.

"And I know just the place!" Dawn exclaimed excitingly as she held up her iPhone. "I was looking for perfect dinner spots and apparently, Saffron City is one of the best ones." She flashed them her phone, showing the images of the wonderful dinner spots.

"Oh, yeah, I remember that place," Ash piped up. "Isn't that where you took Leaf on your first date?"

Dawn gasped and squealed. "No way, that's so romantic!" Then she turned to Paul. "Why aren't you ever like this?"

He simply smirked as he wrapped his arm around her. "I don't do it because this isn't a cliché story." She simply stuck her tongue out at him and he chuckled. "Real mature," he remarked.

"This place is perfect to take Leaf to," Gary suddenly piped up. "We can reminisce there," he planned.

The gang smiled at the planning. They all knew how badly he wanted to get back with her, no matter what his demeanor was. And since both Gary and Leaf were one of their best friends, they had to help; that included Paul as well. They were all drove back to reality when they heard a car pull over next door, Leaf's home. "Isn't that her parents' car?" Ash pointed out.

Gary nodded. "Yeah, why are they back? I thought her dad would stay with his wife overnight."

There answers were answered when they saw the two adults get out of the car. All of their eyes widened as Gary quickly ran over to them. "Why hello there, Gary," Leaf's mother greeted warmly. She struggled to stand long so he quickly helped her stand while Mr. Green made his way over to help his wife.

"Why are you home?" he inquired. "You should be in the hospital, where they can monitor you."

Leaf's father sighed. "That's what I said," he murmured.

She simply waved them off. "I don't need them to watch over me. I'm a strong woman. Look at me; do I look that sick to you?"

"Yes," they all answered in unison.

Upon hearing them, the older brunette turned to look at the gang. "Oh, guys, it's great to see you again," she chimed happily. "And I don't like the hospital. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself at home." Although she said she was fine, her body proved otherwise. She was struggling to stand and her face was getting pale. They had to give her credit though. Even though she wasn't fine, her acting was perfect.

"Honey, we should go inside," Mr. Green suggested as he started to escort her back to the house. Then he turned to the gang. "We may talk inside. The hospital is going to send over some machines to hook her up to since she didn't want to stay there," he explained.

"We're fine, Mr. Green," Misty said. "I hope you feel better, Mrs. Green."

The older woman simply smiled at Misty. "It's great to see you again, Misty. How're you and Ash doing?"

The two smiled. "We're doing fine, Sharon," Ash said happily.

The woman giggled weakly. "Just Mrs. Green will be fine, Ash."

After bidding their goodbyes, the gang went back inside to Gary's house, only to fine Mandy and Elliott watching television. So they decided to talk in the kitchen. "Alright, if I take Leaf out to dinner tonight, who's going to help watch Mandy?" Gary inquired.

The gang raised their hands. "We can all watch her," Misty suggested.

He raised an eyebrow at them. "Don't you guys have plans?"

Dawn shook her head. "Nope, we're staying here until you guys go back to Unova," she answered casually.

"Besides," May started. "She's comfortable around us girls, so it should be fine."

Gary was about to object but Paul cut him off. "Just go before all of us change our minds, Oak."

The brunet just stared at his friends in front of him. They each had a small encouraging smile on their face, telling him to get her back. "Thanks, guys."

* * *

><p>When Leaf had woken up from her nap, Gary had informed her of the dinner date and he didn't let her ask a single question at all. Instead, he just told her to wash up and change into a clean set of clothes. When the brunette asked her friends, who were playing with Mandy and Elliott and watching television, they simply kept their mouths shut.<p>

When they finally left for that surprise dinner date, Leaf still didn't know what was happening until they reached the place. She looked at it in awe as Gary simply smirked while he walked in to talk to the receptionist. "A table for two under Oak," he said coolly with Leaf standing next to him.

The man searched for his name and nodded. "Just in time too," he commented. "Follow me," he ordered as he grabbed two menus before heading outside to the patio.

When they got to their seats, a waiter pulled the chair out for Leaf while Gary sat on the seat across from her. The receptionist handed them the menu when they settled down. "Someone will come and get your order soon," he said before heading back to his spot at the counter.

When he was gone, Leaf raised an eyebrow at him while Gary simply smirked. "Do you remember this place?" he inquired.

"Of course I do," she answered, small smile plastered on her face. "This is where you took me to on our very first date."

He reached out to grab her hand across the table. "Do you know why I brought you here?" Leaf shook her head. "I wanted take your mind off of your mom for a while," he explained. "I hated seeing you cry so I decided to take you out."

"Speaking of which, why was my dad's car at home?"

He sighed, thought he didn't blame her for asking about that. Even he was confused at first. "Your mom's being stubborn again and refuses to stay at the hospital so they came home. Don't worry though the hospital brought over some machines to help her."

The brunette let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. I wouldn't want her to collapse like today again." Before she was able to continue, the waiter came and asked for their orders. "I'll have the Tomato Basil Pasta," Leaf ordered.

The waiter nodded and jotted it down and turned to Gary. "And I'll have the Pasta Marinara."

"I'll be right back with your orders," he said before retrieving back to the kitchen to deliver the order.

"So, tell me," Leaf eyed Gary. "Why are we here exactly? There has to be a reason why we're here of all places."

Gary just smirked at the brunette in front of her. "Can't I just take you out so you can take your mind off of things?"

The brunette gave him a skeptical look. "Well, you can, but why here? We could've gone to Viridian instead but you chose this place. The place where we came for our first date."

Gary, seeing as she was going to be persistent on knowing his true intentions sighed. Just before he was able to let out a single word, the waiter brought them their food, which they both thanked for. "After we eat, then I'll tell you."

Although Leaf had a bad feeling about it, she simply shrugged if off as she enjoyed the taste in her mouth. So since she wasn't supposed to know why she was brought there, she started off at a different topic and from there, the two just had a fun evening filled with laughter.

* * *

><p>While the two were enjoying their evening, the six adults in the house were enjoying their time with the kids as well. They had played every game in the house and Elliott and Mandy were getting bored and it was close to their bedtime. So, Misty had this idea of having the guys act out stories for them to watch before they slept.<p>

"Alright, you two," May said after a good laugh. "What do you want those three to do now?"

"Little Red Riding Hood," Mandy said happily with Elliott agreeing as well.

Dawn and Misty giggled upon hearing the request. "Hey, I wanna see how this one turns out," the bluenette said excitingly as she popped another popcorn into her mouth.

"Choose who gets to play who, Mandy," Misty said to the little girl.

The younger brunette looked at Ash, Drew, and Paul as she thought about who got to play who. She pointed at Drew first. "Uncle Drew gets to play little red riding hood," she started. "Uncle Paul can be the wolf, and Uncle Ash can be the grandma."

Upon hearing this, Misty, May, and Dawn broke into laughter. "Oh my gosh, I freaking love Mandy," Misty commented after wiping a tear from her eye.

After her laugh, May smirked at Drew. "Do you want to borrow my red bandana, Little Red?" she teased before breaking off into a laugh again, this time with Elliott joining along.

"I'm not going to do this one, sorry," Drew finally grunted.

Mandy, hearing this got sad upon hearing him quit. So, tears were slowly to form in her eyes and she was about to cry when the guilt finally got to Drew. He sighed in frustration. "Fine, but this time only."

When he wasn't looking, May snuck a high five to the little girl. That'll teach Drew to _never _mess with a Maple.

* * *

><p>When they finally paid for the check, and were getting ready to leave, Leaf stopped him. "Hold on there, Gary," she said. "You told me that you'd tell me why we were here after we ate."<p>

The brunet sighed. "Do you remember our first date here?" She nodded and he continued. "Do you remember how much fun we had as we got to know each other while we ate? Do you remember how honest we both were?" Once again, she nodded again. "Let's do that right now."

Her eyes widened as she realized what he was up to. "Gary, don't-"

"Why did you leave me six years ago?" His question came out just like that. The brunette looked at the man in front of her, his eyes hard as stone as he tried to get her to answer his question. "Tell me the truth, Leaf, please."

The brunette shook her head as she looked down at her plate. "I can't, Gary."

Upon hearing my response, he furrowed. "What do you mean, you can't?"

She shut her eyes as the memories came rushing back into her mind almost as if they had occurred yesterday. "I just can't, okay? Now can we just leave?"

Seeing as it was useless to squeeze the answer out of her in the public like this, he thought that he'd just let the subject drop for now. So he agreed and they let the restaurant. The whole car ride home was silent as they drove home. "I'll be staying with my parents tonight," Leaf finally said, breaking the silence.

Gary let out a bitter laugh. "It's late, Leaf. I don't think it's smart to be going in your house this late, especially since your mother is sick right now." He heard silence and continued. "Look, if you want to stay there for the time being, go tomorrow. I'm just thinking about what they will think if they heard a strange noise downstairs at this time."

Leaf let out a sigh of frustration when she saw that he had a point. She hated it when he was right. He'd get all cocky afterwards. "Fine, then I'll be sleeping with Mandy tonight then."

Hearing this, he chuckled. "Really, Leaf? You're going to avoid me because of that one question? Seriously, what would Mandy think? How about I take my room and you take that extra guest room," he suggested as he pulled over to his driveway.

Leaf thought over it and although she would've rather stayed with her daughter, she still agreed with his suggestion since it did make sense. "Fine, let's just go right now."

They walked into the house, only to find everyone sprawled out on the couches. Elliott and Mandy shared the two-seated couch while May lay on top of Drew on the three-seated couch. Finally, on the one-seated couch held Dawn and Paul.

"Ashy boy must've went back to his house with Misty," Gary piped up they saw the missing two. Leaf watched as he went to Mandy. "I'll bring her to bed while you go change."

Although she hated to be ordered around like that, she obliged to what he told her to do. When she was done, she found him looking in a closet. "Looking for blankets?" she asked. He nodded and she smiled gently. "I've already gotten it for them before I went to change." Before he was able to say anything else, she turned to her room. "Good night, Gary."

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><p><strong>Yeah, again, this chapter was supposed to be a tad bit longer but I decided to cut it off since I had other plans in stored. So yeah, you all have permission to kill be for doing that.<strong>

**In case you're wondering if a sick patient can come home with machines hooked to them at home, it is possible. I know because my grandpa had lung cancer three years ago and instead of staying at the hospital, he came home with the machines and just stayed there.**

**ANYWAY, this chapter was like practically a filler so I wouldn't be surprised if no one reviewed. BUT, I have a reason for making it this way. It's because I planned for Drew to propose in this chapter but I felt that it was TOO SOON so I decided to make it next chapter c: You're all welcome. **

**REVIEW AND TELL ME HOW IT WAS! Even though I probably wouldn't be getting any for this chapter, I would still be pretty happy to see them in my mail in the morning. OH, and tomorrow night or so, I shall put up the winning upcoming story! SO, IF YOU HAVEN'T YET, VOTE ON THE POLL. Okay, byeee. **


	23. The Proposal

**Hey there guys! Welcome back to another installment of Remember the Past! Yay, I'm so excited to write this chapter because it's finally the proposal and all! So yeah, I really do hope that all of you will enjoy it because this is one of the anticipating chapters that I've wanted to write for a while now. **

**AND THANK YOU ALL FOR 600 REVIEWS! You guys have no idea how happy I was to reach this far. Honestly, I didn't think this story was going reach it. So thank you all very much, especially for the people who reviewed since chapter uno! Yeah, you guys know who you are! And because I'm feeling a little generous, I'll add a little surprise in the end. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Twenty Three-The Proposal<strong>_

That following day, May had agreed to take Mandy and Elliott to the park again with Dawn and Misty. While they did that, Leaf had gone over to her house to keep her mom company by playing the piano for her.

"_When the waves are flooding the shore and I can't find my way home anymore, that's when I, I, I look at you, I look at you. You appear just like a dream to me," _she sang for her mother to hear. When she was done, she looked over and saw a small smile on her mother's face. "So did you like it?"

The older brunette giggled slightly. "I loved it," she answered sincerely. "Did you write it long ago already?"

Her daughter nodded as she stood from the piano set in the room and made her way to her. "So how are you feeling today, Mom?"

"I'm feeling perfectly fine, Leafy," she said enthusiastically. "Maybe the medicines they've given me are actually working. I just don't see why it's necessary for me to be hooked onto these machines. I mean, I feel fine enough to be walking around."

Leaf only laughed as she shook her head on her mother's carefreeness. "Mom, you know that you can never be too sure," she defended. She glanced over at the smiling lady in front of her. The confident smile she always wore was plastered on her face and something about it made Leaf a bit sad. Maybe it was the fact that she was going to miss it when her mother was gone. But then she remembered something. "Wait, Mom, why don't you go through surgery to remove the cancer? I'm sure it haven't spread that much yet, right?

The smile faltered, though it was barely noticeable. Mrs. Green looked down at her hands. "I've considered the idea but it's the risks that are in my head." She paused to see if her daughter was going to add anything about her confidence and all but when she received silence, she continued. "I might seem like I'm perfectly fine with all this but honestly, I'm scared of what's going to happen." At this, her voice slightly cracked, which Leaf caught.

Leaf pulled her mother into a hug as her mother hugged her back. "Oh, Mom, why didn't you say so earlier? You could've told Dad!"

At this, she only shrugged. "He's already got a lot on his plate, Leafy. I don't think telling him that I'm not as strong as he thinks I am is going to ease the stress," she said comically, raising the mood in the room and making her daughter laugh as well.

"Mom, how about taking a risk?" she inquired. Her mother only frowned in confusion at the question. "Go through with the surgery," Leaf said simply.

"We don't even have the money though," her mother reasoned.

Leaf giggled and waved her hand as if it wasn't such a big deal. "Oh come on, you're talking to ex-band member of Heartbeat, Leaf Green, Mom. We were the number one band through the charts and I still have money."

"Are you sure about it?"

Leaf only nodded. "I'm positive," she answered confidently. "We'll go see how much the cancer has spread already and if possible, we can always go through with the surgery. And you're brave, Mom. You were the one who wasn't afraid of anything, so why're you worrying so much about the risks? Just have positive thoughts like you always do."

"You're an amazing daughter, Leaf. Did you know that?"

The brunette only shrugged. "Well, I've been told I'm pretty awesome," she joked light heartedly.

From there, the two shared laughs together and were interrupted by the doorbell. "I'll go get it," Leaf offered as she stood up. "You should get some rest, Mom. Whoever it is, I'll get rid of them."

The older woman only nodded as a yawn escaped from her lips. "If it's just your friends, then just let them in. Just make sure not to make too much noise," she suggested as she laid back down on the pillow.

When Leaf saw that her mother was soundly asleep, she silently closed the door and headed downstairs to get the door. When she answered it, she was met with three familiar faces and raised an eyebrow. "What are you three doing here?" One by one, they piled into the house and collapsed onto the couch. "And where's Gary?" she inquired as she took a seat on one of the open seats next to Paul.

Drew only shrugged as he placed a notebook and pencil in front of her on the coffee table. "I think he said he was busy today. I don't know, did you two argue last night or something?" Leaf opened her mouth to speak but he continued. "Just tell me later. Right now, I need your help to write a song."

Leaf only glared at him and looked at the blank page in front of her. "Okay, first of all, we only had a _small _argument. And second, why are you asking me to help you? I thought Drew Hayden did things on his own because of his pride."

Ash and Paul chuckled at the joke whereas Drew just rolled his eyes. "It has nothing to do with my pride. And well, how do I say this? I'm planning on proposing to May but I need help. You're one of her best friends, so you know her better."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "And that's going to require me to help you write a song?"

He nodded. "Yeah, not so original, but that's the only way I can do it without insulting her."

Leaf looked at him as his eyes pleaded for her help. His face was stoic though. "Get on your knees and then ask me," she requested, smirk on her face.

The green haired man gave her an incredulous look as Paul and Ash looked forward to seeing him do it. Leaf simply smirked evilly at him. "Forget it then," he finally said.

At this, Leaf stood up and opened the front door. "Okay then, get out of my house. My mom's asleep right now." Drew was currently mumbling some incoherent words under his breath while Leaf strained her ears to hear it. "It's such a shame though because I had some lyrics in mind that would be perfect for you two. But I guess you're good on your own…"

Upon hearing this, he grunted and walked to her, smirk still plastered on her face. From the couches, Paul and Ash watched intently to see if he was actually going to do it. He let out a sigh of frustration and slowly fell to both his knees. When he did, he glared up at her, who had an innocent smile on her face. "Leaf Green, may you please help me write a song for May?"

She faked a thinking pose and then looked down at him. "Now why would I do that?"

"Because," he sighed, "I want to propose to her but I'm going to sing to her instead."

Seeing that he probably lost most of his pride, Leaf decided to go easy on him and agreed. "Okay, I'll help you."

Hearing this, Drew immediately stood up and dragged the brunette to the notebook with the pencil lying on the pad. "Okay, now work your writing magic."

She only rolled her eyes at him. _'How is _he _number one on the charts right now?' _she thought to herself. "I can't write it if there are no ideas. I need so to get creative here. When do you want to propose?"

He thought about his answer for a while. He didn't want it to be a bad weather when he did it… "I want to propose on a beautiful night when we don't have anything to do, I guess," he answered.

Upon hearing this, the brunette immediately jotted down the lyrics that popped into her head. "Okay, go on. I have the pre-chorus now."

And so, for the next four and a half hours, they spent the time writing the lyrics, sometimes with Ash's contribution. Paul had decided to stay out on this one. It took some time since Paul would sometimes chuckle at the lyrics but they just ended up ignoring him after sometime.

When they were finally done with the song, they cheered silently, fearing that they would wake Mrs. Green up. Leaf's father had arrived home an hour ago and was currently making dinner.

"Okay, now that we're done with this. We need instruments," Leaf announced.

Drew looked at her. "Did you have that in mind already?"

The brunette nodded and made a little note on the next page. "Since it's supposed to be a happier song, I was thinking more of happier music, get it?" They nodded. "So, I decided to have drums and keyboard. Misty and I can do it."

"I think I can picture it," Ash said.

"You're probably just picturing your girlfriend on the drums," Paul snorted, making the other two burst into laughter.

"Rude," Ash commented before leaning back down on the couch. "And when is all this going to happen?"

Leaf thought about that for a while then looked at the notes. It wasn't that hard, compared to what they've done before, she thought to herself. "How long would it take you to memorize the lyrics?" she asked Drew.

He looked over the sheets of lyrics as he estimated the time. "I'd say around three day's tops."

"Then it's going to happen in three days," she answered. "We'll be able to be good by then and I can call Danny to fly over to help watch the kids," she suggested.

"That's a good idea," Paul added. "Just in case they're going to run around, at least someone will be watching them."

Then, Ash raised his hand from his spot and they turned to him, signaling him to say what he wanted to say. "Where is all this going to take place at?"

They stopped on their tracks since the question took them by surprise. Where was all this going to be happening at? "Well," Drew started. "We wouldn't want to cause a scene and all that…"

"So let's just have a small get together here, in Pallet Town, and have Drew play there. It's better than getting all the attention that will give May no choice but to say yes," Leaf added.

A smirk came onto Drew's face as he heard that last part. "Well if it's a big crowd that will make her say yes, then I'm happy to invite all my fans over to watch it."

They all rolled their eyes at the ridiculous idea. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard from you. Hopefully your son won't catch that."

The gang chuckled at the comment while Drew just narrowed his eyes at Paul. Then, when they heard laughter from the door, Leaf quickly hid the notes under a few books while Drew hastily stuffed the lyrics into his notebook and putting it away from sight. Right when he hid it, the door was opened by Leaf, inviting everyone else, minus Gary, into the house.

"Where's Gary?" Dawn inquired as she took a seat next to Paul.

They all shrugged. "They're having a bit of a problem," Drew whispered to her, making sure no one else heard it except for Dawn. This earned him a painful flick on the back of his head, courtesy of Leaf. "Ow, what was that for?"

Elliott, who had ran up to him and crawled on his lap already, looked up at his father. "Is something wrong, Daddy?"

He smiled at him. "Nothing, I just accidently kicked my toe on the table leg," he lied. When his son bought the lie and went back to watching T.V, Drew turned to glare at Leaf.

She simply smiled in response and made her way upstairs to check up on her mother. As she did that, the two kids became engrossed to the program and started to watch it while the adults just chatted.

"What do you think they're fighting about now?" Misty piped up quietly so the kids wouldn't hear.

"Isn't it obvious?" Drew asked. "Oak wants the truth, now."

The gang just stared at him. "But that's not happening," Ash brought up, where he finally realized the problem. "Oh, I see now…"

"But we already promised that we wouldn't tell him," May informed.

Drew turned to look the woman he loved. "Then it's just going to be a promise we'll have to break."

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><p>Three days had gone by pretty quickly. Drew had memorized his lyrics and Misty and Leaf had their notes down. They had planned to have the small get in the backyard of Professor Oak's lab, with Gary's permission of course and that only the gang was there. While Leaf, Misty, and Drew were setting up, Dawn was trying to stall May by having her change into different outfits, even though the first outfit was perfectly fine. She just wanted everything to be amazing. Gary was doing the sound systems and finally, Paul and Ash were watching Mandy and Elliott while they waiting for Danny.<p>

"Hey, Leaf, are you sure he knows the way here?" Ash inquired.

She only nodded as she practiced the keys on her keyboard once more. "Don't worry about it, sheesh Ash."

Right when those words left her mouth, someone entered the backyard and a grin immediately grinned at him, running up to hug him while Mandy and Elliott did the same. "I see you guys have missed me," he joked.

They shared a laugh and upon hearing them laugh together, Gary abruptly stood up and from the speakers and disappeared into the lab. Seeing this, Ash quickly went after him while Paul went to check up on the sounds.

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><p>"Hey, Gary, you alright?" Ash asked as he arrived inside, only to find his best friend resting his head on his hand, trying to relieve his anger no doubt.<p>

"Of course I'm fine," he answered nonchalantly. "Why wouldn't I be fine?"

The raven haired man shrugged as he took a seat across from him. "Well, you kind of just left suddenly and all," he explained. "Is it because of Danny?"

Gary sighed out of frustration as Ash kept shooting him with questions. "No, Ash, it has nothing to do with Danny," he answered simply. "Now, let's get going. May should be here anytime."

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><p>"Alright," Misty announced, "I've texted Dawn to bring May over now. They should be here soon."<p>

Leaf went up to the two kids, who were talking happily to Danny. "Okay you two, I'm going to need you two to be quiet now, okay?" They only nodded as she smiled at them, knowing Danny will keep them quiet and headed back to the stage, waiting for May to enter.

Finally, after five minutes, the two girls emerged from the doors leading to the backyard, Dawn's hand covering May's eyes. Drew's breath hitched when he saw her outfit. The red sleeveless pleated dress fitted her well, bringing out her curves with the brown braided belt wrapped around her waist. Her brown strappy sandals high heels tapped lightly as she walked on the grass.

"Okay, ready for the surprise of your life?" Dawn asked excitingly.

The brunette nodded. "Yes, Dawn, you've been asking that since we started walking here. Now let me see what this whole thing is all about." The brunette forcibly removed her friends' hands from her eyes and her sapphire eyes started to scan around the place. Her scanning stopped when her eyes landed on the green haired man.

He only smirked upon seeing her face and signaled Leaf to start on the keyboard with Misty's drumbeats harmonizing with her playing. _**(Marry You by Bruno Mars I don't own)**_

_It's a beautiful night,  
>We're looking for something dumb to do.<br>Hey baby,  
>I think I wanna marry you.<em>

_Is it the look in your eyes,  
>Or is it this dancing juice?<br>Who cares baby,  
>I think I wanna marry you.<em>

He made his way to her and grabbed her hand, leading her back up to the front again, where she stood there awkwardly as he sang to her.

_Well I know this little chapel on the boulevard we can go,  
>No one will know,<br>Oh, come on, girl.  
>Who cares if we're trashed got a pocket full of cash we can blow,<br>Shots of patron,  
>And it's on, girl.<em>

After he sang that part, Leaf's keyboard started playing again as the brunette glided here fingers over the glossy keys of the electric keyboard. Misty's drumbeats coordinated perfectly with the notes being played, never missing a beat.

_Don't say no, no, no, no-no;  
>Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah;<br>And we'll go, go, go, go-go.  
>If you're ready, like I'm ready.<em>

_Cause it's a beautiful night,  
>We're looking for something dumb to do.<br>Hey baby,  
>I think I wanna marry you.<em>

_Is it the look in your eyes,  
>Or is it this dancing juice?<br>Who cares baby,  
>I think I wanna marry you.<em>

_I'll go get a ring let the choir bells sing like oooh,  
>So what you wanna do?<br>Let's just run girl._

_If we wake up and you wanna break up that's cool.  
>No, I won't blame you;<br>It was fun, girl._

The smirk stayed plastered on his face as he continued to sing through the second verse. The look on her face was priceless as he sang it to her.

He then diverted his attention down to the two children, who were happily dancing to the music that was being played to them.

_Don't say no, no, no, no-no;  
>Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah;<br>And we'll go, go, go, go-go.  
>If you're ready, like I'm ready.<br>Cause it's a beautiful night,  
>We're looking for something dumb to do.<br>Hey baby,  
>I think I wanna marry you.<em>

_Is it the look in your eyes,  
>Or is it this dancing juice?<br>Who cares baby,  
>I think I wanna marry you.<em>

_[x2]_

Right when he started to sing the pre-chorus the second time, Dawn brought a bouquet of red roses and handed it to Drew, who gratefully accepted it. He brought it up to May as he finished up the song.

_Just say I do,  
>Tell me right now baby,<br>Tell me right now baby, baby._

_Oh, it's a beautiful night,  
>We're looking for something dumb to do.<br>Hey baby,  
>I think I wanna marry you.<em>

_Is it the look in your eyes,  
>Or is it this dancing juice?<br>Who cares baby,  
>I think I wanna marry you.<em>

Drew held it in front of May as she looked intensely at the bouquet. She could not believe her eyes. Drew, the man that she had admitted to love, just sang to her and presented her a bouquet of beautiful red roses. But it wasn't the roses nor was it the song that made her speechless. It was what was in the bouquet that caught her by surprised the most.

Resting on a lone petal of a rose was a delicate white gold ring with a rose, made out of diamonds, facing her. The setting that was holding the huge diamond up was set as leaves of a rose so it was decorated with emeralds while the huge diamond, which was the center of a rose, was surrounded by tiny rubies and diamonds. The jewels glistened beautifully in the lights and when Drew took it off the petal, it was more gorgeous than before, if that was even possible.

Then, he dropped down to one knee. Although the smirk was plastered on his face, his eyes were a different story. May saw sincere in them and also saw genuine love. "May Maple, will you marry me?"

The tears that were begging to fall of happiness finally fell down her face as she nodded. Everyone, excluding Paul and Gary who just smirked and clapped, cheered happily as Drew quickly got up to slip the ring through her ring finger and pulling her into a passionate kiss.

"I love you," she said as they broke off and pulled into a hug.

"Love you too," he whispered back.

Leaf watched with her friends happily as the two had their moment. It was cut short of course when Elliott ran to them. May grinned and lowered to his level, showing him the ring, which was soon joined by Mandy.

She snapped from her train of thoughts when her phone went off. She got it from her pocket and noticed that it was a text from her father. And just from that simple text, it ruined her night. Without a word, she told Misty and Dawn to watch Mandy and before they were able to utter a single word, she made a sprint to the hospital.

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><p>"Is it too late to remove the cancer?" Leaf's father asked as they sat in the office. Leaf had arrived moments ago and that's when she brought up the surgery.<p>

The doctor sighed as he looked over the x-rays. "Well, usually it would've spread by now, but for some strange reason, your wife's cancer is barely started to spread to the other areas not long ago. If we take actions now, there may be a chance that we can still save her."

"What're the chances?" Leaf inquired.

The doctor pursed his lips. "A pretty high chance since it's just started spreading."

Leaf exchanged a look with her father before turning back to the doctor. "Then let's do it."

* * *

><p>"Leaf," Danny called as he reached the waiting room. The brunette, hearing her name being called, ran over to the man and he pulled her into a hug. "How is she?" he asked as she rested her head on his shoulder.<p>

"She's undergoing surgery," she murmured.

Danny nodded, indicating he heard her. "Come on," he said as they released. "Let's see how your dad's doing." And with that, they headed back to her father, who was trying not to fall asleep.

Unknown by the two, Gary had seen the whole thing. He was at the corner, just about to turn when he heard the two. Upon seeing how close they were, he couldn't help but feel _jealous _of Danny. He was jealous because Leaf was able to open up to Danny rather than him. And it infuriated him.

So he chose his only option: go back. When he arrived home, the guys were lounging around, surprised by his early homecoming. "Why are you here?" Ash inquired harshly. "You're supposed to be comforting Leaf."

"She has Danny !" he retorted hotly.

From that, he received cold looks from him friends. "She may have Danny, but that doesn't mean she wants him," Drew stated firmly.

"And how are you so sure of it?"

The three exchanged looks and nodded at one another. Paul and Ash stood up and dragged the spiked hair man to the couch, holding him down, disabling him to escape. "The hell!" he exclaimed angrily.

"Do you want to know the truth or not?"

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><p><strong>SO THERE YOU GO! Hopefully that'll keep you guys alive for another week!<strong>

**So I'm really tired right now and I'm soooo sure there are mistakes in there but I'm just going to fix it after I wake up tomorrow afternoon. Yeah, I stayed up super late for this chapter because I couldn't start on it until I got home from shopping today so you're all very welcome! **

**ANYWAY, REVIEW AND TELL ME HOW CLICHÉ THAT WHOLE SINGING THING WAS. REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY AND MAKE ME UPDATE FASTER! C: JUST SAYING! Oh, and check out my new story guys! Okay, so remember to review! **

**NEXT CHAPTER: THE TRUTH**


	24. The Truth

**Hey there guys! So I've been super happy because I received so many reviews from last chapter, which has been a while since that happened, and for that, I feel like I should pay you guys back by updating sooner! **

**So my plans for the rest of the stories go like this: Gary finds out the truth, nice talk with Leaf (not going to ruin for my lovely readers), May and Drew's wedding, someone's going to propose, and then epilogue. So this story is going to roughly end in about three chapters possibly? I still haven't decided yet. ON A BRIGHTER NOTE THOUGH, I FOUND SPIRITED AWAY ON YOUTUBE. LIKE, I FOUND THE FULL MOVIE! AH, I'M JUST SO HAPPY CAUSE IT'LL BE LIKE THE FIRST TIME IN SIX YEARS SINCE I SAW THAT MOVIE c: **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Twenty Four-The Truth<strong>_

Gary stopped struggling at the mention of the truth from his best friend. He abruptly looked up and felt that Ash's and Paul's grip hasn't loosened up at all. His breath hitched as he let those words sink in, as if he had just heard them. It was quiet in the room.

"What did you just say?" he finally asked in a mere whisper.

Drew let out a deep breath and locked eyes with Gary before shaking his head. "Answer me one question first," he began. "Why are you giving up _now_? You just got Leaf back, so why are you giving up?"

At this, Gary avoided his eyes and looked down, choosing his words carefully. He pursed his lips before answering. "I thought that having her and Mandy live with me would bring us back to how we were before six years ago," he said quietly. "But in the end, that plan didn't even work. If anything, we only got hurt more. What she said six years ago about how I can't give her a bright future, she was right. Danny can give her a bright future."

Hearing this infuriated not only Drew, but Ash as well. This caused the raven haired man to tighten on his grip, making him wince slightly, while Paul did the same. Though he didn't show it, Paul was also angry at Gary for giving up so soon. Drew let out a frustrated sigh as he held himself back from hurting his best friend.

"Don't tell us you haven't figured out the truth yet," he hissed. When he got silence in return, he knew the answer. "I asked if you wanted to know the truth or not earlier to see what your reaction to be. I wanted to see if you would at least know the slightest bit of it. Geez, for someone who's smart enough to be a well known scientist, I can't believe you couldn't even figure out such a simple answer."

"Are you going to tell me or not? I answered your stupid question already." The tone he used showed that Gary was slowly growing impatient.

Drew only glared at him before crossing his arms. "Think carefully, Oak. If she really did choose Danny back then, then why'd she still come back with you? And if she did choose Danny, then why aren't they married yet? Do you want to know the answer? It's because since the day she met you till now, Leaf had only loved one man. And that's you, Gary. It's because of that reason that she had to lie to you six years ago."

Hearing this caught his attention as he suddenly looked up, looking at Drew straight in the eyes. That was the one thing that had been constantly in his mind. "She lied to me?"

Drew let out a small bitter laugh at this before narrowing his eyes down at Gary. He had a strong urge to knock some sense into his best friend but he couldn't do that. Not yet.

"Think about it. Would Leaf really leave you like that when you needed her the most? She's not the type of person to do that," Ash piped up from his left. "How long have you known her, Gary? How could you call yourself her best friend if you actually thought she was that heartless of a person?!" he questioned angrily.

Drew nodded to agree with Ash along with Paul. "If it wasn't for Megan…" Drew trailed off furiously. "In order to save you, Leaf promised Megan that she'd leave you so Megan could work on the proton treatment. That's the only reason why she even got Danny to deceive you."

"She knew you lived on," Paul finally said from his right. Gary turned to look at him and he was met with stony gray ones. "But she couldn't go to you because of that ridiculous promise."

"You know how serious she is when it comes to those," Ash added. "Once she makes them, she's not going to break them, no matter how much it hurt her."

"And now she has to bear the resentment from you," Drew spat harshly. "Don't you realize how hurt she is?"

At this, the sincerity in Gary's eyes turned back to the cold demeanor as he looked back at his best friend. How could they have kept this from him for so long? He was hurt that his best friends did this to him, and they chose to tell him now of all times. He was infuriated. "She was being stupid and selfish," he finally said. "Who gave her the right to make that decision for me without talking to me first and who gave her the right to leave me by myself? Did she really think that I'd be happy living like this? Did she honestly think that I enjoyed my life being changed?"

Drew's jaws tightened as he kept clenching and unclenching his fist. How could Gary think like that? "You're right, she was selfish for doing that and she should've asked you first. But you lived, didn't you? Isn't that more important than anything?" He took a deep breath as he looked straight into his eyes. "I believe that if the roles were switched back then, you would do the same thing for the person you love too. Unless you don't love Leaf enough."

_Snap. _That was all it took for Gary to snap. He attempted to break himself from Paul and Ash's grip but there was no avail as they held on tight. How could Drew have said that to him? Didn't he know that Gary loved Leaf? It angered him even more to think about it.

"Lashing your way out from their grip's not going to help," Drew said calmly as he crossed his arms over his chest again.

He only received a glare in return from Gary. "How did you even know about this?" he inquired darkly.

"Who else would tell me, Gary? Besides, I was told I couldn't tell you about the past when you still couldn't remember anything." Gary was about to respond when he continued. "The only reason why I'm telling you all this is because I can't stand to see Leaf continue to hurt because of you. She's been through way too much to let you treat her as if you hated her. She's waited for _six __fucking years_, Gary Oak."

The auburn haired man sat silently on his seat. How was he supposed to feel now? He knows the truth now, but what does he do now? He had so many mixed feelings he didn't know what to do. "Let me go," he ordered.

"Not if you're going to hurt us," Ash retorted.

Gary only shook his head. "No, I need to go see Leaf right now."

"I don't think it's safe for you to be driving in your emotions right now," Paul informed.

"I'll be careful, Paul. I just…I really need to go see her now."

_This time, this place_

_Misused, Mistakes_

_Too long, too late_

_Who was I to make you wait?_

Hesitantly, Paul and Ash slowly released their hold on him and Gary stood up, heading for the door with his keys in hand. "Watch Mandy for me," he said before opening the door. Then, he turned around and had a small, barely noticeable smile on his face. "Thank you, guys."

They only nodded in acknowledgement. "Go get her," Ash encouraged.

_Just one chance_

_Just one breath_

_Just in case there's just one left_

_'Cause you know,_

_You know, you know_

Gary tried not to go past the speeding limit but it was hard to do so since he was in a hurry to the hospital. As he drove, memories hit his mind like ocean waves hitting the rocks.

"_I'll love you forever, okay?" Leaf confessed sincerely. _

_He smiled down at her and placed a small kiss on her lips before pulling her into a hug, kissing the top of her head. "And I'll love you for as long as we live," he whispered loud enough for her to hear._

Then, on the day that he finally asked her out.

_"Flowers, really? That's so cheesy, Oak," she teased as she smelled the beautiful orchids. "A real cheesy idiot," she added cheekily. _

_He only smirked and kissed her cheek, causing her to giggle. "That may be true, Leafy, but I'm your cheesy idiot."_

_That I love you_

_I have loved you all along_

_And I miss you_

_Been far away for far too long_

When he arrived at the hospital, he quickly found a parking spot and sprinted inside the place, pushing the elevator button repeatedly. When the doors finally closed he tapped his foot impatiently at the floor and when it finally opened, he ran to the brunette, who was sitting by herself and surprised when she saw him.

"Where are your dad and Danny?" he inquired.

"At the cafeteria getting dinner, why-"

Her answer was cut short when he pulled her into a hug. She tried to push him away but the more she fought back, the more his grip tightened around her. "Let go of me, Gary."

"Is it true?" he asked, making her stop. "Is it true that you had to leave six years ago because of Megan?" He released her and held onto her shoulders with both his hands to prevent her from escaping. His eyes showed no emotions. "Don't lie to me, Leaf. I already know it."

"Then why are you still asking if you know the truth?"

_I keep dreaming you'll be with me_

_And you'll never go_

_Stop breathing if_

_I don't see you anymore_

She felt his breath on her and would've melted if she didn't stop herself from doing so. "Please, Leaf. The truth's already out, so please. I just need you confirm it." When she stayed silent, he lowered to his knees.

_On my knees, I'll ask_

_Last chance for one last dance_

_'Cause with you, I'd withstand_

_All of hell to hold your hand_

Her eyes widened at the sight as the nurses around started to stare at them. "Gary, get up," she demanded. He shook his head. "Please, I'll…I'll tell you."

Hearing this, he got from his knees and they both took a seat.

_I'd give it all_

_I'd give for us_

_Give anything but I won't give up_

_'Cause you know,_

_You know, you know_

* * *

><p>After Gary had left, the girls brought Mandy and Elliott back to the house. They were at Ash's house, visiting Delia and when they saw his car drive back, they had to go back to the house to see what had happened.<p>

Once they had entered, the two kids ran to the toys and played amongst themselves there while the adults talked. "So what happened?" Misty asked.

"We told him the truth," Drew answered casually. He figured that there was no point in lying anyway now that Gary knew the truth so he just answered it truthfully.

"But we all promised we wouldn't tell him," Dawn pointed out. "She's never going to forgive you guys now."

At this, they just shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. "Look, she will forgive us. Besides, we had to tell him," Ash defended. "He really wanted to know and besides, they've already been through enough. It's time that they're finally happy."

"And we owe it to Leaf," Drew added, grabbing a hold of May's hand. "If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be engaged now." She smiled slightly as he kissed her on the cheek.

Still, the girls sent them disapproving looks. "I know you guys meant well, but have you considered what Leaf would do when she finds out that you guys broke your promise to her?" Misty informed. She understood where they were coming from and she would've done the same thing if she were in the guys' shoes.

Paul only sighed. "Look, we promised we wouldn't tell him when he still couldn't remember anything. Now that he remembers the past, we can tell him."

The girls' eyes widened as they all registered what Paul had just said. "So you guys found a loophole," May pointed out.

Drew clapped his hand at his fiancée's realization. "Very good, May. Would you like a gold star for that?" he commented sarcastically. This earned him a good stomp on the foot. He cursed under his breath, which earned him another stomp. "Would you quit it with that?"

"I'll stop only when you stop with the cursing and the name calling," she said with a smirk plastered on her face.

Ignoring the two, the other four turned back to their conversation. "How are you guys going to explain this to Leaf later?" Dawn asked.

They just shrugged. "We'll just say that we found a loophole," Paul answered nonchalantly. "She'll understand, probably."

"And if she's mad, just say it was Drew's idea," Ash suggested.

This only caused laughter from the group. "Thanks for that, Ash," Misty managed to say. "We really needed something like that to ease the tension."

* * *

><p>"So, since I left, Misty and Dawn had visited to tell me how you are doing and such," Leaf concluded. "Now, I don't know how the guys knew but I think the girls told them, which is fine with me."<p>

Gary only furrowed his brows at this. "Then why wasn't it fine to tell me?"

Leaf let a sigh escape from her lips as she looked at him. Her father and Danny had finished their dinner long ago, but when they saw the two talking, they just went to walk around the hospital.

"I couldn't tell you because I promised that witch of a Megan, no exceptions. Though I was stupid to not see this coming from the guys. I can't believe they found a loophole out of it," she murmured. Then she looked at him, sadness in her eyes as a sad smile made its way to her face. "Gary, I'm so sorry I had to lie to you and everything, but you have to understand that it was all for you and I would do it again. It was wrong of me to do that to you, though." She took a deep breath. "So, now that you know the truth, can you ever give me one last chance and stay with me?"

He looked down at her, meeting her eyes. He knew how she felt. He saw the regret in her eyes. He saw how much she had regretted her decision, and most importantly, he saw the love that she held for him.

"You left me, now it's my turn to leave you." Upon hearing this, she found interest to the floor and just stared at it, regretting the question she had just asked. Gary, seeing this, had a small smile on his face and grabbed her hand. "I'll leave...if you let go of my hand again."

_I need to hear you say_

_That I love you_

_I have loved you all along_

Hearing and seeing this, her eyes brightened and she looked up, saw a grin on his face and soon, a grin on her face. The two abruptly stood up and her arms immediately wrapped around his neck while his arms snaked around her waist. A sigh of content left Leaf's mouth as they stayed in that position.

"I love you," she whispered in his ear as she rested her head on his shoulder.

This only caused him to tighten his grip and he buried his face at the nape of her neck. "I love you too."

"But wait," she interjected before letting go, looking at him. "Aren't you mad or anything because I've been keeping it from you for so long?"

He chuckled slightly, making her heart flutter. "I had already forgiven you long ago, Leaf. You know I can never stay mad at you," he informed as he pecked her nose.

She giggled and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "I always knew that."

By now, Danny and her father had returned and they were smiling. "Did we miss something?"

_And I forgive you_

_For being away for far too long_

_So keep breathing_

_'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore_

_Believe it_

_Hold on to me and, never let me go_

_Keep breathing_

_'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore_

_Believe it_

They both shook their heads. "Nope, everything is perfectly fine," Leaf chimed.

Before anyone can celebrate though, the surgeon came out with the other doctors, catching their attention. "How is she?" Mr. Green asked immediately.

The surgeon sighed as he removed the mask from his face, meeting all of their eyes. They were all filled with curiosity and worry. Slowly, a smile made its way to his face. "The operation was successful," he informed happily. "Your wife is going to be fine. You may start visiting her tomorrow since she does need her rest right now."

They only nodded with grins on their faces. Leaf gave Danny a hug before going back to Gary, who welcomed her with his warm lips on hers. When they released from each other, they smiled at each other.

_Hold on to me and, never let me go..._

* * *

><p><strong>YAYAY, happy ending for them now! Like finally, right? So I am sorry if this wasn't what you all anticipated for, but I basically planned this much and I did say this story was going to end in mid-20's…<strong>

**SONG USED: FAR AWAY-NICKELBACK. I skipped around a lot to make it fit the scene c: I hoped you guys liked it. **

**Review and tell me how it was! If you guys are kind and send me a lot, the next update will be sooner like this one! I mean, seriously, less than a week! So review and I'll update asap! **


	25. The Wedding

**This is it, guys! The moment that you've all been waiting for: THE WEDDING! I have to say guys, this chapter has been one that I've wanted to work on for a while now and I really do hope that you'll like it. **

**700 REVIEWS! Are you guys serious? I never expected to gain so much in such a short while so I want to say thank you so much. You guys have no idea how happy I was. I want to especially thank theasianwonder though! It's because of her that I was even able to reach it with her reviewing every chapter from before so I just want to say thank you so much. That's why this chapter is going to be dedicated to you (theasianwonder), one of my good friends I met, ThePerfectTwox3 and basically everyone who stuck to this story from the beginning. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the OC's.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Twenty Five-The Wedding<strong>_

_Six Months Later_

"Alright," Dawn announced as she hung up each dress, which was sealed up in a body bag, up against the closet in the girls' hotel room. "I've got all of the dresses made and everything. Now, we have to settle on the Maid of Honor and Best Man."

The gang had flew to Slateport City, thanks to Dawn's plane, since May and Drew had decided to hold a beach wedding at the place where they had first met. It was Drew's idea, which the girls found romantic. Since it was just the beginning of summer, the beach would've been the perfect setting.

May smiled and looked at Leaf, who was watching her daughter play with Elliott. "I've decided to pick Leaf, Dawn. I know that you've always wanted to be the Maid of Honor, but Drew already picked Gary as his Best Man."

The bluenette pouted but smiled nonetheless. She understood why Drew would pick Gary instead of the other two. Paul would just down right reject the idea, seeing that he was Paul Shinji, and Ash would have a chance of losing the ring. And Drew's wedding was too important to have Ash lose the ring.

"And you two are going to have Mandy and Elliott walk down the aisle too, right?" Dawn clarified.

The two soon-to-be-wed nodded. "Yeah, they should be the first one to walk first, then followed by Leaf and Gary," May planned. Then she looked at the ring on her finger and grinned. "I'm so excited."

Drew chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist before smirking and flicking his hair. "Of course you're excited. You are marrying the one and only Drew Hayden after all."

May playfully rolled her eyes at him before punching him lightly on the arm as the other girls laughed at him. "Don't lie; you're just excited as I am. I'm May Maple of Heartbeat."

The girls quickly changed the subject as they knew what would happen next. It's been going on ever since they became engaged. They would boast about themselves for a while, go into an all out argument, then kiss and make up.

"Anyway," Misty piped. "Did Roxanne ever get back to you about the wedding?"

May nodded and smiled. "Yeah, she said that she won't make it to the wedding, but will show up for the reception dinner."

"Oh right, she's on her honeymoon with Brawly right?" Leaf informed. "I knew they'd get married sooner or later. Remember when they first met during our tour in Dewford City?"

The girls giggled at the stroll back to memory lane. "I swear, those two were like total opposites, just like you and Paul," Misty pointed out to Dawn.

The bluenette only shook her head at her. "I could say the same to you and Ash, Mist," she chimed. "Think about it, Ash is all playful and everything, like Brawly while you're the serious type like Roxanne."

Misty was about to retort until Drew interrupted. "Okay, let's not get off topic here," he cut in. "The wedding's tomorrow and we need to make sure everything goes as planned." The girls nodded as he continued. "Dawn, did you make sure that everything's going to be set up by the time guests arrive?"

She nodded as she looked through her notes in her phone. "Yeah, and I've made sure that they got the blueprint of how to set up. I even got the cake ordered and everything. It should arrive by eleven, before the guests start arriving. And I'll make sure to wake up early to help you guys out with the tuxedos."

Drew shook his head. "You don't have to do that. I've already made sure that they don't screw up or anything."

They all raised an eyebrow at him. "How'd you manage to do that?" Misty inquired curiously.

He only smirked as he flicked his hair. "Let's just say that I had to bring up some certain crazy girls to get them to cooperate."

Dawn only shook her head at the answer but giggled nonetheless. "Nope, they're still guys, so I'm going to come over anyway."

Drew shrugged. "Suit yourself," he answered casually. He squeezed May's hand lightly and looked down at her. "Just twenty more hours and you'll be Mrs. May Hayden." Although his facial expression didn't show it, his eyes showed genuine love and how happy he really was.

May blushed cherry red as he mentioned her future name and smiled before leaning onto his shoulder. Then she noticed something. "Hey, speaking of them, where are the guys?"

"Gary told me that they were going out to the mall. He didn't say why though," Leaf answered.

The girls and Drew smirked inwardly at that. They knew the reason why Gary was at the mall. It would only be a matter of time for that moment.

* * *

><p>At Lilycove City, Gary, Ash, and Paul had just arrived at the mall. Upon entering, Ash had made a mad dash towards the food court while Paul was dragged with Gary to his desired destination.<p>

"Why am I tagging along?" he inquired dryly as he walked by Gary's side.

The auburn haired man smirked. "Would you rather go with Ash and be involved in his fast food frenzy?"

"It'd be better than looking at jewelry with you," he answered bluntly before leaving Gary's side and making his way to the food court as well.

Gary only shook his head. It was typical Paul, so he didn't mind much that he was left alone. When he finally arrived at the best jewelry store, he entered and was greeted by one of the younger workers, who then tried to flirt with him. "So do you need help?" she asked flirtatiously.

Gary simply shrugged it off though. Instead, he was looking around the store, searching for his needed item. "I'm looking for an engagement ring," he answered.

The woman then started to bat her eyelashes at him. "What, getting married? Aren't you a bit too young?" She then proceeded to place her dainty hand on his shoulder.

Gary smirked at her advancing as her hand started to move down his arms, feeling his well toned muscles. He took her hand and detached it off away from him. "I know you're interested, but I'm not. I've made mistakes in my past and I've hurt the woman I love far too many times already, so I'm going to start repaying her by staying faithful. Now, if you're not going to help me, then get someone who's serious."

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever, I'll get someone else." She disappeared to the side of the place and asked a much older man to fill in for her while she talked to his customer. She jabbed her thumb towards Gary's direction and the man immediately went over to him.

"Was there something wrong with Ashley?" he inquired as he made his way to Gary.

Gary smirked and shook his head. "She was trying to hit on me. I don't think she was very fit to help me choose an engagement ring."

"I'm very sorry about her behavior. She tends to do that. I'm planning to fire her soon since she started to shoo of the customers that way," he said apologetically. Then he took in Gary's features and noticed something about him. "You're Gary Oak, aren't you? Samuel Oak's grandson?" Gary nodded in response and the guy grinned. "I'm your grandfather's close friend, Harry."

Gary smiled and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"So you were looking for an engagement ring?" Gary nodded and he smiled. "Very well, follow me."

The man walked to the left and Gary followed on the other side. Then he spotted someone usher him outside. "Excuse me, I'll be right back," he told the guy before walking to the entrance, where he narrowed his eyes at the woman in front of him. "What do you want?" he asked harshly as he crossed his arms.

The brunette dragged him out to the side. "Are you really going to propose to her?" she inquired.

"Yeah, what does it have to do with you?"

She sighed. "I'm truly sorry for what I did to you, Gary. I just really wanted you but you were crazy about Leaf so I was jealous. It was wrong of me to feed you those lies and I'm just really sorry," she apologized. "Can you ever forgive me?"

Gary just shook his head at her. This was unbelievable. "How can you expect me to forgive you when you've hurt me and Leaf? I know everything now, Megan. I know that the reason why Leaf left me was because of _you,_" he spat venomously. "You were being far too selfish. I think that I can forgive you for what you did to me, but I can never forgive you for what you did to Leaf."

Upon hearing this, her head shot up and she narrowed her eyes at him. "What makes her so much better than me, Gary? I'm a doctor, she's just an ex-pop-star-"

"Don't you dare say that again," Gary threatened dangerously. His hands slammed on the wall behind her and his eyes were deadly. "Leaf isn't just an ex-pop-star. She's more than that. Unlike you, she's kind, smart, charming, bold, and everything you're not. She's not afraid to be herself. And I'd choose her over you any day."

"W-why?" was the only word she was able to muster out.

Gary pushed his hands from the walls and turned his to his side, getting ready to go back into the store. "Because I love her." He was about to take his leave when she grabbed him by the wrist. He turned to her and gave her a cold stare. "Let go of me. I need to buy an engagement ring."

Her eyes widened as she slowly released his wrist. Then, before he was able to leave, she quickly walked away from him, uttering words loud enough only for him to hear. "She's one lucky woman."

* * *

><p>The next day, Dawn had woken up earlier than usual and woke up the girls, who shared the same suite with her. When they were fully awake, she told them to prepare themselves while she worked on the guys. Upon arriving in their suite, she woke up each guy by prying their blankets off.<p>

"Troublesome," Paul grunted. "What are you doing here so early?"

Dawn rolled her eyes at him before pulling him out of bed. "I'm preparing you guys, now hurry up and get out of bed."

After half an hour of getting each guy out of bed, she had ordered all of them to wash up, get into their clothing and once they were done, she started to straighten each of their attire, making sure there weren't any wrinkles. When their shirts were fine, she helped with the tie. When she deemed that they were ready, she moved onto Drew.

She started to move that fringe from his face by using gel to sweep it to the side of his face. He raised a questioning eyebrow down at her. "You're getting married. That means you aren't going to be flicking that fringe every minute."

When she was finally done, she told Drew to go down to the beach to watch for everything to arrive while Dawn went back to her suite shared with the girls to get into her dress and help the girls with their makeup. Mandy and Elliott were already in there respective attire while the girls sat waiting for their best friend on the sofa wearing their dresses already, except for May who was in her robe.

"How'd it go with the guys?" Misty asked amusedly as she imagined the thought of Dawn waking up the guys.

The bluenette groaned as she fell back against the couch. "It was horrible. But, I did manage to get them up so that's all that matters. Drew's on his way down the beach to make sure everything's in the right place," she informed to May.

"Perfect." May stood up and started to head towards the makeup table in the room. "Alright, Dawn, I'm ready."

Dawn grinned and got up from her seat immediately, followed by Leaf and Misty. "Okay, Leaf will work on your hair, I'll work on your makeup, and Misty will work on your nails," Dawn planned as each of them got ready.

The brunette nodded and soon, each girl got into their jobs. Leaf had turned May's hair into loose curls, so it went above her back. Leaf then grabbed a thin elastic and tied the hair into a half up-do, leaving the shorter strands to frame the brunettes' face. Then, she brought out a red rose clip and attached it onto the side of May's head. Misty had transformed May's nails into a beautiful French tip, but rather than the usual white, she had replaced it with May's favorite color, red. For her makeup, Dawn had used pale pink to color her eyelids, making it almost blend into her skin tone. May's eyes were surrounded by black eyeliner, which was winged out slightly and her eyelashes were full of volume from the mascara. Finally, to finish the look, Dawn applied a neutral red lipstick on.

When they were all done, they smiled at each of their work. May was gorgeous. "Drew is going to die when he see's you," Misty commented. "You're beautiful, May."

The brunette giggled as she admired herself on the mirror. "You guys did a great job," she praised. Then she looked at the time. "Okay, it's getting late, so I'm going to change into my dress and you three get ready yourselves too."

When May was done with putting on her dress and everything, the girls were nearly done. Misty and Leaf didn't wear much makeup, so they were pretty much done while Dawn was finishing up with her blush. Leaf's hair was curled and tied up to a low side ponytail while Misty stuck with her side ponytail. Dawn's hair was curled as well and pulled up into a ponytail.

Each of their dresses was the same, but slight differences. They were all red and made out of silk taffeta with origami-like pleats along the bodice and the waist with a slight tulip skirt, hugging each of their bodies perfectly and reaching just above their thighs. The differences were that Misty's dress had a wide strap, Dawn's was strapless, and Leaf's was spaghetti strap. The same went with shoes. Misty had on a pair of white flats, Leaf wore white wedges and Dawn wore white pumps.

When they saw May enter with the dress on, they stared in awe. "Dawn, you did a perfect job on the dress," Leaf complimented.

Around May's thin body was a one-shoulder ivory silk crepe gown with an illusion corset that had a slight wrapping style and a French tulle draped overlay back. On her back had a self tie ribbon, which Dawn did professionally. On her feet was a pair of high heels that May had made sure she was able to walk in.

"Where are Mandy and Elliott?" May inquired as she looked around while Misty helped with the veil.

Dawn gasped as she ran to the couch to grab the two children. "I completely forgot we have to fix you two too." She placed Mandy down on the seat and started to make loose and bouncy curls with her hair. She then fixed Elliott's tie around his neck and helped with the buttons on his jacket while Leaf helped tie the ribbon for her daughter's red sash on the waist before straightening the ivory dress on the little girl's body.

When they were done, it was already eleven thirty. Luckily, the hotel was only a fifteen minute drive down to the beach so when they were done, they quickly ran to the car and Dawn quickly drove off.

'_Just a while longer and I'll be May Hayden.'_

* * *

><p>It was time. The clock had struck twelve and everyone had all taken their seats, anticipating for the much awaited event. Drew was standing in the front with the priest under a tall white rose decorated lattice. The seating was divided into May's side and Drew's side, each chair being wrapped by white satin and a satin red bow tied behind each chair. From where May and the girls along with their boyfriends stood, a white satin carpet, covered with red rose petals, laid on the sand, leading up to Drew. From either side of that entrance was a row of roman columns, each with a basket of various colored roses sitting on top.<p>

Mandy and Elliott, both at the age of six now, stood in front of everyone. Mandy was given a small bouquet to hold, which consisted a mixture of red and white roses. Behind them were Leaf and Gary, who were currently whispering things to themselves about the two kids in front of them. Behind them were Ash and Misty, who were having a small argument. After them were Paul and Dawn, who were mocking each other. Finally, behind them, were May and her father, Norman, who stood proudly as his daughter's elbow was locked with his. Each girl had a bouquet, with roses like Mandy's, except it was slightly larger than the little girls. May's was filled with different colored roses.

"You look amazing, May," Norman praised as the ceremony was about to begin.

May smiled and suddenly felt nervous, but pushed the butterflies away nonetheless. Today was the day that she was going to get married and she wasn't going to call off the wedding. It was the day she had been waiting for months.

"You ready?" Dawn asked when she sensed her nervous friend. May nodded and Dawn sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You love Drew, May and he loves you. Everything is going to go smoothly."

The brunette smiled and hugged her friend. "Thanks, Dawn."

Then, the music started, which signaled the beginning of the wedding. Everyone 'aww'-ed as Mandy and Elliott walked down the aisle, who was soon followed by the brunettes. When Leaf and Gary made it, they split to their respective sides and took their positions next to Mandy and Elliott respectively. Leaf grinned at Drew while Gary gave him a pat.

Next was Misty and Ash, who walked down happily. Misty flashed him a small smile while Ash gave him a thumb up.

Then it was Dawn and Paul. Dawn smiled at everyone down the aisle while Paul prevented the scowl on his face. It was his best friend's wedding day and it wasn't going to be ruined by his scowl. When they arrived, Paul gave Drew a nod while Dawn flashed him a bright smile.

Finally, it was May's turn down the aisle. With her arm locked around her father's they walked down the aisle as everyone watched them. Drew watched as the beautiful brunette made her way down the aisle towards him. He smiled at _his _May.

May smiled back at him when she caught the smile. When they finally arrived, Norman gave his daughter a hug and a kiss on the forehead before going to his seat next to Caroline.

This was the moment that they've been all waiting for.

* * *

><p>"Do you, Drew Hayden, take May Maple, as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"<p>

Drew turned to May, squeezing her hand lightly. Though he had a faint smile on his face, his eyes showed true bliss and May saw that. "I do."

The priest nodded and turned to the brunette. "Do you, May Maple, take Drew Hayden, as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"

May smiled brightly at him as their eyes met. "I do."

The priest had a small smile on his face as he saw the couple in front of him. "The rings," he announced.

As on cue, Leaf and Gary brought up the rings. Drew accepted the ring from his Best Man and slipped in through May's left ring finger. "May Maple, I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you. With this ring, I thee wed."

May followed his actions by taking the ring from Leaf. "Drew Hayden, I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you. With this ring, I thee wed."

The priest smiled warmly at them before closing his book that sat on the podium. "Drew, you may now kiss the bride."

And in that moment, everything was picture perfect. Time had seemed to stop for a split second as they welcomed each other with a passionate kiss. Everything went as planned and was perfect. The girls were crying at the couple while the guys smiled at their friends, including Paul who had a barely noticeable one.

Everyone cheered and clapped at the couple in front of them. Caroline was sobbing on Norman's shoulder while Max tried to comfort his mother. Karen was cheering wildly with the crowd as Steve clapped, smiling proudly at his son.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Hayden," the priest announced happily.

* * *

><p>That evening at the reception dinner, everyone enjoyed the food presented. Music blasted through the speakers in the front while guests danced.<p>

"So how's the food?" May asked her friends who were seated with them, plus Roxanne and Brawly who had made it right before the dinner had started.

Mandy and Elliott were the first ones to look up from their plates and grin at them. "It's yummy!" they exclaimed in unison, making the adults laugh in amusement.

"I agree, it's delicious," Dawn commented as she took another bite out of her shell-shaped pasta.

Drew and May smiled and before they were able to say anything, the mc spoke from the stage. "Let's have our bride and groom come up and dance."

Everyone clapped and cheered as the two made their way to the dance floor. The music played and Drew offered May his hand.

_Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling _

_Do you feel my heart beating, do you understand? _

_Do you feel the same, am I only dreaming? _

_Is this burning an eternal flame?_

After May accepted his hand, he placed on her waist while she placed her hand on his shoulder. Drew guided May through the dance floor and while that was happening, they had a silent conversation.

"You're looking exceptionally beautiful tonight," he whispered huskily in her ear, sending shivers down her spine as his breath lingered onto her ear.

May blushed lightly as she smirked at him. "And you're looking pretty decent tonight," she retorted before giving him a chaste kiss on the lips.

_I believe it's meant to be, darling _

_I watch when you are sleeping, you belong to me _

_Do you feel the same, am I only dreaming _

_Or is this burning an eternal flame?_

Slowly, everyone else started to make their way down to the dance floor. Norman had offered his hand to his wife, Caroline while Karen dragged Steve with her. Dawn too had dragged Paul with her, though he didn't put much of a fight. What surprised everyone at the table was when Elliott took Mandy out there to dance as well.

"Isn't that just adorable?" Leaf gushed to Gary, who smirked.

_Say my name, sun shines through the rain _

_A whole life so lonely, and then you come and ease the pain _

_I don't want to lose this feeling_

Ash had managed to stop think about food for a minute and had asked Misty to dance as well, taking her by surprise. She accepted nonetheless though.

Gary turned and smiled at the woman next to him. She had a soft smile gracing on her lips as she watched her friends dance happily. She giggled as she saw Drew surprise May with a dip. Gary patted the box in his tuxedo pocket and stood up, offering his hand at the brunette. "Let's dance."

She raised an eyebrow at him but acknowledged it anyway, taking his hand and allowed him to take her away.

_Close your eyes and give me your hand _

_Do you feel my heart beating, do you understand? _

_Do you feel the same, am I only dreaming _

_Or is this burning an eternal flame?_

The song ended, everyone slowly made their way back to their seats. Some stopped by May and Drew to congratulate them once again while others stayed on the dance floor. Finally, when the gang, minus Leaf, thought it was time, they nodded at each other and May made her way onto the stage, bouquet in hand.

"Alright, now let's start with the traditional bouquet throwing!" she announced excitingly.

Every unmarried female ran up to the edge of the stage and May grinned when she saw that Misty and Dawn had managed to Leaf there. She turned her back to them and tossed it back, having a good feeling that it was going to land in Leaf's arm. And when it did, the brunette blushed.

"Leaf!" the girls exclaimed happily with huge grins on their faces.

The aforementioned brunette turned to her friends, only to have the music drown out her question as it started to play.

_I've loved you forever,_

_In lifetimes before_

_And I promise you never..._

_Will you hurt anymore_

_I give you my word_

_I give you my heart (give you my heart)_

_This is a battle we've won_

_And with this vow,_

_Forever has now begun..._

Her eyes widened as she recognized the lyrics and voice. In front of her stood the one man she had ever loved, Gary Oak. He stood there, smile present on his face as he worded the lyrics.

_Just close your eyes _

_Each loving day _

_I know this feeling won't go away_

_Till the day my life is through_

_This I promise you…_

_This I promise you…_

Once that was done, Gary fell to one knee and produced that black velvet box that was resting in his pocket. He opened it and Leaf's eyes were wide as she stared at him. "Leaf, you're the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you, Leaf and I can't see myself living without you. So I'm going to need to keep you by my side forever. Leaf Green, will you marry me?"

The brunette had one hand clamped over her mouth as she tried to prevent the sobs from escaping her lips. Tears fell from her eyes as she stared into the eyes of Gary. Speechless, she just nodded at him.

Everyone around them cheered as Gary slid the eight-carat diamond engagement ring through her finger. He enveloped into a loving embrace before kissing her. When they broke apart, the girls ran up to Leaf and hugged her, telling her how the wedding's going to be like. Elliott and Mandy sprinted over to her and she lowered herself to show them the ring.

The guys arrived and each gave him a pat on the back. "That went better than I expected," Drew commented.

Gary smirked arrogantly at his best friend. "What did you expect from the might Gary Oak?"

Hearing this, Leaf and the girls approached him and raised an eyebrow at him, both kids at their feet. "Oh? You weren't afraid that I would say no?"

Gary merely shrugged as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Of course not. I knew that after playing the song we wrote together you would say yes. Besides, there was a huge crowd around us. You'd be too pressured to say no."

"So now since the crowd isn't really paying attention to us now, I can call it off?" she challenged. Gary's eyes widened and they showed that he was really worried that she would actually go through with that idea. She giggled at the sight. "I'm just kidding. Anyway, how'd you get the song recorded and when?"

Drew raised his hand and flicked his hair. "No need to thank me," he replied. "I was able to get him to the recording studio three months before today and he recorded it there. I'm awesome, I know. No need to tell me twice."

"Aw, isn't that sweet?" Unknown to Drew, May had managed to get a slice of their cake and was currently standing behind him. When he turned around, he was surprised with a hand full of cake in his mouth.

"What was that for, June?"

She smirked as she licked the icing off her fingers. "Well, for one, that was for the name calling. And two, that was to keep that arrogant mouth of yours from talking."

Everyone expected Drew to blow up, but that never happened. Instead, he just smirked evilly and luckily, Dawn and Misty had dragged Mandy and Elliott away before it got violent. Drew slowly approached May with his now caked face. "Come over here and give me a kiss," he said.

She giggled. "No way, your face is too messy."

And with that, he started to chase her around the place as guests watched amusedly at the newly weds.

Leaf only watched with her friends from their table and laughed as May had managed to throw the slice of cake on top of his head. Then her eyes shifted down to the ring on her finger and admired it as it glistened in the lights.

'_This is the perfect happy ending.'_

* * *

><p><strong>AND THERE YOU HAVE IT. THE CHAPTER YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR. I gotta say, this is one of my favorite chapters because I had so many ideas in my head that were instantly transferred to this chapter and I did so much research and thinking for the whole wedding so I really hoped that you guys liked it.<strong>

**OH, and I have links in my profile! Just scroll to the story and I'll have May's dress, the bridesmaids dress, the beach setting and the reception dinner looks. **

**SONG'S USED: ETERNAL FLAME-THE BANGLES (This was in my parents' wedding video and I fell in love with it. Plus, it was in Vampire Diaries c: )**

**THIS I PROMISE YOU-RICHARD MARX/N-SYNC. (From chapter 5, they wrote the song, remember?)**

**I DON'T OWN ANY OF THEM! **

**Review and tell me how it was guys! This story's almost over with the epilogue, which I hope will be up soon. So I would really love it if you guys reviewed and tell me how it was. Seriously, it'd make me one happy author. Anyway, until next time, byee! **


	26. Epilogue: The Perfect Scene

**And this is the epilogue! Like mentioned before, this is going to be the final chapter of Remember the Past. So…I'll leave a lot of important stuff at the end so please read the authors note there, PLEASE? **

**GAH, I still can't believe that it's over already. I mean, it feels like yesterday I just started with the first chapter. It's going to be so sad finishing this story, but it was bound to happen eventually. So enjoy the final chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Like I said in the last twenty five chapters, I don't own anything except for the OC's. **

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><p><em><strong>Epilogue-The Perfect Scene<strong>_

_Ten Years Later_

Standing at the bottom step of her house in Castelia, Leaf tapped her foot on the floor impatiently. She looked at her phone again for the time and sighed out in frustration. "Would you two hurry it up?" she called up, hoping the two would hear her.

From the couch, a little boy, at the age of seven, turned to his mother. "Are we going to be late?" he asked as he made his way over to his mother.

Leaf crouched to his level and started to fix his auburn spikes, making it more presentable. "Of course we're going to be late," she said. "Aren't we always?"

He chuckled and allowed his mother to straighten out his shirt, removing all the wrinkles that were seen. "But Aunt May and Uncle Drew are always late too," he pointed out.

Leaf giggled and smiled at her son. "That's correct, Aiden. And that's because Uncle Drew and Elliott like to mess with Aunt May for a while before getting serious and everything." Then when she was done with her son, she sighed again from frustration and stood up again. "Hurry it up!" she called again, this time filled with anger.

From the second set of stairs, father and daughter started to make their way down. "It's okay, Leafy, they'll understand why we're late," Gary said coolly. It was true. Every time whenever the gang agreed to meet up, the Oaks would always be the late ones because two out of four of them cared very much about how they looked.

The brunette rolled her eyes at her husband and then looked over at her daughter who was smiling innocently at her mother. Leaf only shook her head at them, but smiled nonetheless. "You two are just like father and daughter. You both care so much about your looks." Then she took notice of her daughter wearing an ivory strapless lace dress that reached just past the thighs and smirked. "Oh, I see why it took _you _so long to get ready now," she mentioned slyly.

The teenage girl prevented the blush to go on her face and only smiled back. "Of course, Mother, it is my birthday after all." The once innocent five year old girl was now a beautiful teenager who had started to turn more like her father, caring about her looks more now. She was now a great soccer player, being team captain and had her parents' brains.

Upon hearing what his wife had pointed out early, Gary quickly went up to his daughter's room and came back down with an oatmeal colored cardigan. He threw it over her shoulders and she pouted at him. "There is no way in hell am I letting you show up in _that _with that boy around," he replied casually as he went to grab his car keys.

Mandy only rolled her eyes and removed the cardigan from her back, throwing it onto the couch. "Well that one doesn't go well with my dress," she retorted. "And it's summer, Dad; I don't need to wear that. I'll die from the heat."

"It goes with your ankle boots," he stated as he fixed his hair in the mirror that hung next to the stairs.

Mandy looked over at her mother, secretly telling her mother to talk to Gary. Leaf winked back at her. "Mandy, why don't you and Aiden wait in the car," she suggested, taking the keys from Gary's hand. "We'll be there soon."

The teen nodded and walked with her younger brother outside to wait in their newly bought white Lexus. When they were gone from an earshot, Leaf only smiled innocuously, up at her husband, who was frowning at her. "Oh come on, you and Drew used to joke about her and Elliott all the time when they were kids," she defended.

Gary sighed and crossed his arms. "Exactly, we were joking about them! We didn't think that would actually happen!"

Leaf's eyes softened as she went up to him and uncrossed his arms, holding it down with her hands. "Gary, Elliott is not that bad."

"He's an arrogant kid like his dad, he's always making snide comments like his dad, and he only worries about that stupid hair of his," he listed off. "Do you need anymore?"

"Sounds like someone here," she sighed with a smile. "Besides, they've been friends since forever. Remember how they'd always go on the dance floor together in every wedding we attended? He doesn't make rude comments there."

"That's because he just started to have that attitude recently," he replied.

Leaf sighed and leaned in closer to him, holding his face in her hands as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She had a soft smile on her face and her eyes showed understanding. "I get why you don't want her going out," she said. "She's daddy's little girl." He only nodded silently and she kissed his gently.

He smiled down at her and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so lucky to have you," he whispered as he nuzzled his nose into her hair.

She giggled and embraced him back, knowing that he wanted her to say something sweet back too. "I know you are."

And with that, she quickly ran out the house with him hot on her trail.

* * *

><p>"Finally, you two are here. Even May and Drew arrived earlier and they're usually the ones who are late," Dawn informed as she opened the door to allow them in.<p>

"HEY!" the two shouted from behind.

The bluenette only smiled and allowed them in, handing Mandy her present. "Here you go, Mandy; happy birthday." Then she looked down at Aiden and squealed, pulling him into a hug. "You are so adorable. Let me adopt you."

Leaf and Gary laughed and shook their heads. "No way, he's my son. He's going to be carrying on the family name," Gary answered pompously.

"Where's Ariana?" Leaf inquired excitingly as she looked around the house for the hyperactive eight year old.

Dawn giggled and pointed to the living room. "She's with everyone else. Oh, Mandy, Elliott's there too, if you were wondering," she chimed shrewdly.

The teen only smiled and walked there with Leaf and Aiden, who was finally released from the grip. Dawn then turned to Gary, smirk on her face as she saw his face. "She's sixteen now, and it's her birthday. It's so obvious they like each other."

The spiky haired man sighed but smirked back. "Well if he wants to go out with her, then he's going to have to pass my test with flying colors." And with that, the two made their way to the living room, only to have a younger boy attack Gary to the floor.

"Ha, who's the better one now?" he taunted haughtily.

Gary groaned and removed the nine year old boy from him. "Ashy-boy, control your son."

"Daniel," Misty called from the couch. "You have to stop doing that. Gary's getting old so he won't be able to handle it anymore."

The black haired boy nodded and made his way to the food again, pigging out. The adults shook their heads at the resemblance to his father. Gary looked for Leaf, only to find her playing with Ariana, Dawn and Paul's eight year old daughter, and Stephanie, May and Drew's eight year old daughter.

He smiled softly at the whole scene in front of him as he remembered their other two friends' wedding. After his and Leaf's wedding, Ash had asked Misty on her birthday by putting the ring in her cake, to which she almost ate. Luckily, he caught her just in time. Afterwards, they moved to Undella Town and they had Daniel, who had Ash's hair and Misty's sea-green eyes. The boy shared his father's competitiveness as well as his appetite and his denseness. From his mother, he had her aggressiveness and temper.

A couple of months after Daniel was born, Paul had asked Dawn bluntly since he hated to cause a scene like his other friends, much to Dawn's annoyance. The two had moved from Castelia and to Nimbasa City and then had Ariana, who had Dawn's midnight blue hair and her father's stony black eyes. She shared her mother's personality the most, with her father's wits and sarcasm.

As for Stephanie, she came a few months after Ariana. Unlike May, she didn't have a big stomach, much like her father. Personality wise though, she was a go-lucky girl, with mostly May's personality, and had her father's brains. Contrasting from her brother, she had her father's green hair and mother's sapphire eyes.

"Gary," Leaf called, catching his attention. She ushered him over and he made his way over to the seat next to his wife. "Stephanie just told me something interesting."

He raised a brow at the little girl who had a grin on her face. He turned to Leaf, who had a similar grin on her face. "My brother is going to ask out Mandy," she whispered so only he would hear, afraid the other two would catch it.

Gary's eyes widened slightly and started to search for the brunette teen, only to find him talking to his father with Mandy chatting with May. He stood up and smirked. "I'll be right back," he informed.

"Is he going to hurt Elliott?" Ariana asked curiously.

Leaf giggled slightly as Dawn took a seat next to her. "That's something we'll have to see now." She watched as her husband led the teen out side of the house and to the shore of Undella with an evil glint in her eyes. She whistled loudly, catching everyone's attention. "Okay, so Gary's probably interrogating Elliott right now, so who wants to listen in?"

The adults smirked at the thought of it and started to head out the door while Mandy and the kids stood there confused. "Why is Dad interrogating Elliott for?" she asked.

The older brunette just giggled and winked at her. "Oh don't worry about it. Why don't you stay here and watch the kids, Mandy," she suggested. "This is a grown up thing."

The teenager pouted and crossed her arms. "I'm sixteen already though," she complained.

"But these kids need to be watched over," her mother chided playfully. "You're forgetting that they're all hyperactive so they'll most likely destroy the house and you know how Misty is when she's angry."

Mandy turned to the four kids who were watching them intently and sighed. "Fine, but I'm getting twenty bucks from each of their parents, okay?"

Leaf giggled and quickly rushed out the door to follow her friends. "Okay, deal. Don't let them burn the house down."

* * *

><p>"What'd I miss?" the brunette asked as she came up behind her friends, who were currently hiding behind a colossal rock.<p>

"Not much," Drew replied. "He's starting out with some small talk."

From there, the gang strained their ears to listen to the conversation. It was hard considering the waves were crashing onto the rocks but they were pretty close.

"So, why'd you call me out here?" Elliott finally inquired, hands in his pockets.

Gary turned to him, smirk on his face. "So, I heard you were going to ask out Mandy." Elliott shrugged nonchalantly. It looked as if he was unfazed with this whole questioning, but he was actually terrified for his life. "You see, that's going to be a problem for me."

Elliott's face paled slightly. "What do you mean?" He tried his best from preventing his voice to crack. This caused the hiding adults to smirk. May had her phone out, recording the conversation. She was never going to let this down for her son.

"You're evil," Drew murmured, who was next to her. She only smirked back at him.

"Now, I'm usually the one who lets things slide, but when it concerns Mandy, that's going to be a big issue. So tell me, Elliott, are you going to hurt her or anything?"

His fringe started to get in his way and he resisted the urge to flick it like he usually did. "Of course not, why would I do that?" he answered calmly. At least he knew the answer to this one. "We've been friends since we were diapers and I've never made her cry before," he informed.

Gary narrowed his eyes faintly at the teen in front of him. "Ah, but you did." When Elliott's face scrunched up to a confused one, Gary smirked. "That fight you had when you were thirteen. She came back home crying."

"That's because she knew she was wrong," Elliott retorted, remembering the tiny argument they had. He still didn't understand why they were arguing over something so feeble.

"And that's what I'm talking about," Gary pointed out. "Your pride is something I don't like."

Elliott did his best not to roll his eyes. "It was just one time though. You know I wouldn't intentionally hurt Mandy like that."

"You're not just after her appearance, are you?" Gary inquired suspiciously.

Elliott shook his head. This was the question he had been the most prepared for. "Please, why would I do that? It's her personality that I love the most about her."

The older male eyed him carefully, and noticed that he didn't seem too scared. He thought about it and then decided. "How are you planning on asking her out?"

Upon hearing this, the teen had known he had passed the test and smirked as he flicked his fringe from his face. "That is going to be a surprise."

Gary smirked and gave him a pat on the back. "That's what I'm talking about. You better make her happy."

And with that, the two started to make their way back to the house.

"Crap, what do we do when they see that we're not there?" Dawn questioned frantically.

Misty and Ash just brushed it off as they started to take a different path back to their house. "Daniel and Ash made this path way when they were sneaking off one day," Misty explained as they led the gang back as fast as possible.

* * *

><p>Back in the house, Aiden and Daniel were watching some television while Mandy was playing with Ariana and Stephanie.<p>

"So, do you like Elliott?" the blue haired girl asked excitingly.

"Yeah, do you?" Stephanie started to bounce around the teen as she kept repeating the question.

The older brunette sighed as she thought about her answer. "Of course I like him. He is my best friend after all," she responded. She was glad that they didn't specify their question so she was able to answer it easily.

At this the two girls pouted at her, arms crossed across their chest. Mandy swore that they looked just like their mothers. "That's not the answer we were looking for," Ariana deadpanned.

Mandy chuckled nervously at the two as she swept her bangs away from her face. "Well, you weren't really specific, so you know. Besides, since when did you two care if I liked him or not?"

They gave her a look that meant that she should know the answer already. "Because it's so obvious you two do!" they both exclaimed in unison.

"I see my mom and dad fight like you two all the time," Ariana pointed out. "And they're married!"

Stephanie nodded in agreement. "And Elliott _always _talks about you during dinnertime. He never shuts up and my mom thinks it's cute."

Mandy only shook her head at the two. "Oh come on, just because we fight a lot doesn't mean that we like each other. Your parents fight because that's probably how they communicate. And their fights are never serious right?" The blue haired girl shook her head. "Then they do it just for fun. I fight with Elliott because he makes me mad with his cockiness."

"But you like him anyway," Stephanie blurted.

Mandy face-palmed and was relieved that she didn't have to answer the question since the adults just walked in. The older brunette immediately stood up and went to her mother. "So what happened?"

Leaf just smirked and patted her daughter's head. "Oh, you don't have to worry about it one bit." Her tone was something that Mandy knew all too well. It was the tone that she only used when she was hiding something.

"Tell me what happened," she pleaded.

Her mother shook her head. "No can do, it's a secret."

Mandy, knowing that it was useless to beg due to experience, decided to let it drop. Then she pouted at her mother, arms crossed. "Fine, then I'll just ask Daddy."

Leaf only shrugged as she saw that her husband had just returned with Elliott. She smirked inwardly before looked down at her daughter. "Okay, you do that." And with that, she went to join her best friends as they continued to talk about what would happen soon since May had told them what Elliott had gotten for her.

Mandy went up to her father and pulled on her best innocent face that she had mastered at a young age. "Daddy," she said, catching his attention. He knew this too well. This tone was only used when she wanted something. "What were you doing with Elliott outside just now?"

Gary smirked down at her and patted her head, just like how Leaf had done so earlier. "We were just talking, that's all." She looked at him, mouth agape as he gave her the answer. Gary chuckled at her look. "You and your mom had used that look on me so many times that I'm immune," he stated.

"Come on, tell me, please?" she begged.

He shook his head and was about to speak again but Leaf interrupted him by clapping loudly. "Okay, since we still have to go to the beach later, let's have Mandy open the presents now!" Normally, she'd have her daughter open her presents at the end but she was too excited today. "Come on," she urged as she ushered her daughter over to the table that held her presents.

The ones on the table were just from her parent's friends. Her friends had given her present early so they were at home. The brunette went to the table and opened each present that was there. From Dawn and Paul, she had received a full outfit, courtesy of Dawn (Paul had just put his name on it). From May and Drew, she got a pearlescent rose necklace along with pearl white strapless dress that looked like it fell past her thighs, matching the necklace.

"Are they trying to kill the whole male population by giving her that dress?" Gary whispered to Leaf. He knew that guys were always attracted to his daughter and if they saw her wearing that dress, they'd die. It was like May and Drew wanted that.

Leaf only giggled in response.

Then, Mandy proceeded to Misty and Ash's gift. From them, she received a white dress with pink and orange floral on it along with cute ruffles at the bottom, hitting mid-thigh. Gary was a little relieved with this one because it had straps on it. The brunette then pulled out a tan saddle cross body bag and grinned up at each person that gave her the presents.

"And then, there's our present," Leaf announced as she walked up to her daughter, Gary next to her.

Mandy eyed them as they had bright smiles on their faces. "We noticed that you've been eyeing the new car for a while now," Gary started. "And well, there was a reason why we bought it so suddenly." She raised an eyebrow at her father as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the car keys to their new car they used just this morning.

The teen's eyes widened as he placed it in her hands. She couldn't even find the right words to say. She just smiled and pulled them into a hug. "Do you like it?" Leaf inquired.

"I love it," she said earnestly. "You guys are the best." Then, Stephanie and Ariana ran up to her, handing her a sheet of paper respectively. She looked at it and giggled at them. On the paper were drawings and she couldn't help but find it amusing how they drew. "It's adorable. Thank you."

May and Drew exchanged a look and then looked over at their son, who was holding green and white striped wrapped box in his hand, still deciding when to give it to the girl. Then Drew smirked. "Hey, Elliott, what's that you got there?"

Everyone heard it and turned to him. The boy had a light blush on his face as he looked down on the floor. Then he gathered up his courage and brought it over to Mandy. She smiled at him, making him blush even more. The brunette pulled the green ribbon that was tied neatly on top and opened it, finding a brown music box inside.

She opened it and it played her favorite song, _Simple and Clean_. But it wasn't the song that caught her attention though. Inside was a necklace with a heart key silver charm with teal enamel. She admired it as it glistened brightly. "It's beautiful," she mumbled. Everyone gathered around to see what she was so drawn to and saw the necklace.

"That necklace is so pretty!" Ariana squealed.

"It must've cost a fortune," Leaf observed.

Elliott shrugged. "Well, I saved up." Then he went up to Mandy. "Can I ask you something?" She nodded and did her best to not be excited as she placed the necklace back to the box. Elliott was about to ask her the important question when everyone leaned in to listen in. Then, when he caught his mother bringing out her phone and father bringing out the video camera, a vein popped on his head. "Why don't we take this outside," he suggested, pulling her arm.

When they were out of the door, they started to head for the door with the kids following. "How cute," Dawn piped up. "He thinks we're not going to follow them."

* * *

><p>After following them, Elliott had led her to one of the nicer parts at Undella and the gang hid behind some bushes near them.<p>

"So, Mandy," Elliott started. "You know how we've been friends since we were in diapers?" She nodded. "Well, remember how we promised each other that we wouldn't fall for each other two years ago?" She nodded again.

"What is all this about?" she finally asked. "I mean, was it that important that you couldn't do it in front of everyone else?"

He sighed. "I broke the promise." Mandy's eyes widened as he continued. "I'm sorry, but I fell for you. And it pissed me off when I saw you being all friendly with _Jake _the other day. What the hell, you do know that he's a player, right?"

She only rolled her eyes at him. "He was only asking me for help on the math homework."

He huffed stubbornly and then remembered the reason why they were there in the first place. "Anyway, Mandy, will you go out with me?"

She gave him a stunning smile and nodded. "Yeah," she answered. "The truth is I broke the promise long ago too. I actually fell for you three years ago. The only reason why I wanted you to make the promise was because I didn't want to ruin our friendship."

He chuckled at her explanation. "Well let's make a new promise then." She cocked an eyebrow at him and he smirked, flicking his fringe from his face. "Let's promise that whatever happens, we'll still be best friends, no matter what."

She nodded, smile still on her face. "I'd like that." And then they pulled into a hug with Mandy's head resting comfortably on Elliott's shoulder while his chin rested on the top of her head.

From the bushes, loud cheers could be heard, drawing the two's attention over there, only to find the gang. May caught Elliott's glare and shrugged. "Did you really think we wouldn't follow you two here?"

"You should know us better than that," Drew added as he flicked his fringe.

Before they knew it, the two were being chased around with their son right by there trail. "Delete the video!" he shouted as he chased after them.

While they were doing the chase, Mandy went up to her parents, raising a brow at Gary. "You like him now? Just this morning you wouldn't let me leave the house without a cardigan because of him."

"Well, he was okay after the talk we had," he defended, looking away.

Leaf noticed and giggled. "Don't worry, Mandy. He always had a soft spot for Elliott anyway."

They watched the sight in front of them as the teenage boy chased his parents around. Leaf smiled fondly and then looked around her. Her daughter was happy and Gary was finally accepting the fact that his little girl was growing up. Then she looked over at Paul carrying Ariana on his back while Dawn stood next to him, laughing at the sight. Paul had changed a lot, Leaf noted as she saw him smiling partially. Then she shifted her gaze over at Ash and Misty, making comments at the running family. Playing at the water was her son, Aiden, Daniel, and Stephanie. She couldn't help but smile bigger.

'_This is the perfect scene.'_

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><p><strong>And that is it. The story is now finished. I can now change the status to complete! I admit I am really sad that it's ending because I really enjoyed typing this. I can't believe it's over. It all seems so surreal. I kind of really want to keep this in my folder so I can never upload it. Ahaha, but I won't do that.<strong>

**Okay, so the important news that I want to mention is that I've been thinking of bringing back Demon's Flower because I pretty much found inspiration in that story again. To any of my new readers, here's the summary (old readers, I changed up the plot!): **

_**When May and her family gets into a sudden car accident on a trip to Larousse, only she survives. She is then immediately taken in by Drew, not knowing that he was the one who had caused the death of her family. He does his best to keep it from her, and protects her with the help of his friends. Is she ever going to find out his sin?**_

**That's just the rough idea but I've pretty much planned the story already. So, tell me if you like the idea or not! **

**Review and tell me how it was guys! To be honest, I was pretty proud of this chapter because I finished it pretty quickly compared to my other chapters. So yeah, review and make me one super happy author. And read my other stories too! I'd be really happy. SO, REVIEW THIS AND READ MY OTHER TWO STORIES! Okay, bye guys. You've been the best readers ever. **

**-LeafxGreenx3**


	27. Bonus: Beautiful in White

**So I know that I should be working on a chapter for my stories but I was listening to this song and fell in love with it. I thought it would fit this plot after a minute of reading the lyrics c: **

**SO YOU KNOW HOW I NEVER HAD A WEDDING FOR LEAF AND GARY IN REMEMBER THE PAST? Well, here you go! I thought that this song would fit perfectly for these two so I thought why not! So think of this chapter as a bonus chapter!**

**OH, LISTEN TO THE SONG IN THE WEDDING SCENE. BEAUTIFUL IN WHITE BY SHANE FILAN. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I don't own the song, or the characters, except for Elliott and Mandy. **

* * *

><p><strong>Beautiful In White<strong>

Gary stood in front of the mirror as he tightened the tie around his neck before he fixed his hair. It was a big day; _his _big day. He and his fiancée had planned it for months now, and the much anticipated event had finally arrived. He looked down at the engagement on his ring finger and smiled. From the mirror, he saw his three best friends walk in and turned around, only to be met with Drew's smirking face.

"Are you nervous?" he inquired. Although he had a smirk on his face, his tone said otherwise.

The spiky haired man nodded as Dawn came in to put her final touchups on the guys. Just like how she did in May and Drew's wedding, she used gel to fix Drew's hair to make sure he wouldn't flick it during the ceremony and attempted to fix Gary's spikes with no avail. When she deemed that they were ready, it was already seven thirty in the morning and the ceremony started at eleven.

"Okay, so you're going to go to the venue to check everything, right?" she asked as she turned to Gary. He nodded and she grinned. "Perfect! Make sure everything's in order. I already checked in with the wedding planner and she said she'll be there by eight. So meet her there and brush up on the final things, alright?"

"Sheesh Troublesome, why are you telling him this? He's not going to forget," Paul pointed out from the door, smirk on his face as his girlfriend threw a glare at his direction.

"Wrong thing to say, man," Ash whispered to Paul, only to get elbowed by the man.

She decided to just ignore him and reminded some other things to Gary, who just nodded. Then she turned to the guys. "You guys, go with him too. I think you all will have to help out with the tables and everything, so go and help. We'll meet you there, okay?"

They nodded as well and when they left, she went back to her suite that she shared with the girls, her best friends. When she entered, the girls were already dressed in their bridesmaid dress while Leaf was in her robe, helping Mandy fix her dress. Elliott was sitting next to May, waiting patiently for his friend to be finished.

"How was preparing the guys again?" Misty mused.

The bluenette giggled and just waved it off. "They were hard to control, but in the end, I got them to do things my way," she said victoriously. She looked at the clock and was surprised at how much time had passed. "Okay, I'll get changed into my dress and work on your make-up. Leaf," she called, catching the brunette's attention, "get changed into that wedding dress and I'll work on you, okay?"

She only nodded and went into the closet to change while Dawn changed in the bathroom. When she came out, she was in a strapless mint green silk dress that fell just past the thighs. She skillfully tied the bow behind her waist before making her way to May and Misty. Like before, their dresses were all the same, except it was altered to their liking.

When she came out, the three ladies started to work on their makeup and hair.

While they were doing that, Leaf was in the walk-in closet and brought the dress down that hung from the door. She looked at it and smiled to herself before looking down on her ring. "Mrs. Leaf Oak," she said quietly to herself before giggling. "Has a nice ring to it."

When she slipped on the dress, she felt as if she was reliving the day of her photoshoot with Gary. She was wearing the same dress as she did that day, and that day was one memorable one for the both of them.

Like May's dress, Leaf's dress was also designed by Dawn and she couldn't have made it any better. The ivory lightweight strapless dress gazaar and silk crepe sheath had an asymmetrically draped skirt that reached the floor while the corset bodice hugged every part of her from the waist up, showing her curves. After admiring herself in the mirror for a few seconds, she heard a knock from the door and left the closet, only to find Dawn standing there.

"Two more hours, Leaf," she reminded as she helped the woman tie the bow in the back. "Let's go work on your makeup now."

She led Leaf to the vanity table, where everything was set up already and placed the brunette onto the seat. May and Misty started on her hair and nails, respectively while Dawn the started to her makeup. When the three were finished, Leaf's usual straight hair was curled loosely at the ends and pulled into a side ponytail with a few smaller strands to frame her face. Misty had transformed Leaf's usual grass green nails into a French tip, except rather than white, it was gold with shimmering glitter at the tips. As for her face, Dawn had made sure to use neutral color, so she went with the basic concealer and foundation before using a light shade of pink on her eyes. As for the eyeliner, Dawn was careful not to spread the wing to much while her eyelashes were full of volume. Finally, for her blush and lipstick, it was a pale pink color.

Leaf smiled at the mirror as her friends finished their final touches on her. Dawn added a pair of diamond earrings while May added a small tiara on her head before Misty placed the veil over her head.

"You look beautiful," the girls breathed out.

"If Gary isn't the least amazed, something is wrong with him," Misty mused, causing the girls to break into giggles.

And with that, they got in the car, and the next stop was Leaf's wedding.

* * *

><p>Pallet's park was one of the cleanest parks throughout the whole region. It was also the place where Leaf and Gary had met, so when it came to picking a venue, the two of them came up with the idea of holding the wedding at the place they had met.<p>

Now, the park was altered to one of the most beautiful with everything set up. Chairs were divided depending on who the guests were, whether they belonged with the bride or groom, with green silk bows tied on each one. Surrounding the chairs were columns of flowers, courtesy of Drew, and in the middle of the dividing chairs were photos scattered down to the front, where the priest stood. The photos went from chronological order; from when they were kids to adults. Starting at the very end was Leaf's and Gary's first meeting and the line goes down up to where Gary stood.

It had been his idea from the very beginning. He decided not to let Leaf know about it though since it was going to be a surprise. _'A stroll down memory lane,'_ he thought to himself.

"The guests are here now," the wedding planner said, snapping him from his thoughts. "Leaf and the girls just arrived and the guys had left to get in place to walk down the aisle. You should get in place too," she advised.

He simply nodded and got in place, turning his head to see his grandfather, Professor Oak, on the first seat on the first row. The old man smiled at him, eyes telling him that he was ready. "Just a few more minutes," he told himself.

* * *

><p>"Are you nervous at all?" Leaf's father inquired as his daughter hooked her right elbow with his left.<p>

She shook her head. "Not at all, Dad," she confirmed. "If anything, I'm excited. We're finally going to be a happy family."

Her father simply laughed and kissed Leaf on the cheek. "You're just like your mother."

She grinned cheekily up at him. "Since I was a young girl, Daddy."

Standing at the front of the gang was yet again, Elliott and Mandy. Coming after them was May and Drew, the happily wedded couple, who were currently in a pointless argument. Leaf had decided that May should be the Maid of Honor, not only because she had the title for May's wedding, but because the two of them were practically sisters. Nobody else deserved it other than May. Then, it was Dawn and Paul, and finally, Misty and Ash. Each woman had a bouquet of red roses in their hand.

When the clock struck eleven, the music began and each one began to ascend down the aisle. Mandy and Elliott had made sure not to ruin the photos so they were careful while they were walking. Next up, was May and Drew who walked down the aisle. When they arrived to the front, May stood next to Mandy and winked at Gary while Drew nodded towards him.

Next up was Dawn and Paul. Dawn smiled at everyone as she walked by while Paul just had a poker face plastered, though there was a small trace of a smile.

Then, it was Misty and Ash. The two walked down the aisle happily and when they reached the front, Misty gave a firm nod while Ash gave Gary a cheeky grin.

And finally, it was Leaf's turn. Gary watched as her eyes fell on the photos on the aisle and when she looked up to meet his eyes, her eyes screamed happiness and he was glad she was happy to see the surprise he had put out for her.

Leaf's eyes watered as she saw pictures in front of her. She remembered each of the events that happened to them and she was couldn't be any happier to see them again. "A stroll down memory lane," her father muttered beside her.

She turned her head to him. "You knew?"

He only chuckled nodded. "Of course; he was the one who came to your mom and I for the photos, you know?" And with that, he gestured her to walk down the aisle, and she complied, her eyes never leaving Gary's.

_Not sure if you know this_

_But when we first met_

_I got so nervous_

_I couldn't speak_

She told herself she wouldn't cry. If she did, her makeup would be ruined and Dawn would kill her. So instead, she pushed the tears back and kept her hands firmly holding the bouquet of red roses combined with white stock and brilliant white Asiatic Lilies, accented with lush greens.

_In that very moment_

_I found the one and_

_My life had found its_

_Missing piece_

When they finally arrived to the front, Leaf's father remove his arm from his daughter's and held her hand out for Gary to take. He nodded at Gary and took his seat next to Susan, his wife.

_So as long as I live I love you_

_Will have and hold you_

_You look so beautiful in white_

And so the wedding started. The priest had started with his speech and soon enough, they were almost done.

"Your vows?" the priest asked as he looked at the two. Both brunettes had decided to say their vows on their wedding day so when the priest finally asked for it, they were anything but nervous.

Gary nodded and looked at Leaf. "When I first met you, Leaf, I didn't think that you'd become part of my life. I remember the first day we met. You had just moved here and I was the block's best looking kid along with being the star soccer player." At this Leaf and the audience laughed. "And when you beat me on your first day upon arriving, I was mad. Since then, I would always challenge you to a round. Then, when we started to attend elementary school, we were in the same class. Even then, we competed for better grades. And we would always alternate with who does better. In middle school, it was the same process. I remember when someone first flirted with you. I was furious and wanted to hurt the guy." Leaf giggled and fought the tears that wanted to drop from her eyes. "Then in high school, I had my first girlfriend and boy were you jealous. Nonetheless, I thought it was adorable. Later, as sophomore year rolled by, I finally had the guts to ask you out. I didn't know why, but at that time, I realized that you were the one that I wanted to spend my life forever with.

"Of course, later, we broke up because of well, my cheating ways," he said sheepishly, making the audience chuckle. "When we met again, it wasn't the best reunion, but that was the day that I was able to see your beautiful face again. There were so many troubles along the way after we met, but you didn't back down at all. You stayed strong. And that was the one thing that I loved about you the most. You're strong, independent, fearless, and above all, you're perfect.

"Now I won't get into detail after my whole surgery, but I will say one thing. Meeting you again, Leaf, wasn't by chance. It was by fate. I could've been placed to live with anybody else in Village Bridge, but no. I was placed to live with you and Mandy, and I couldn't have asked for more. Although we hit a slight bump later, I was glad we were able to make up. And I was also glad to have asked you to marry me. Leaf, I love you, and I want to spend my life with you forever. I know that I can get too cocky and arrogant, but with you, I know you'll keep me in line."

By now, the girls were crying along with Leaf's mother. Leaf had to restrain herself from crying. Instead, she sniffled at little before looking up at Gary to say her vows.

"Gary, when I first met you, I'll admit, I didn't like you very much. You were pretty mean and cocky and got on my nerves a lot." Upon hearing this, the crowd laughed and Gary chuckled sheepishly. "But as time went by, I realized that you weren't just some stuck up kid who cared about being the top at everything. You were so different that when I first met you. I saw sides of you that always got my heart to flutter and gave butterflies to my stomach. Then, at one point, I fell for you.

"I didn't say anything at first though because then it'll ruin our friendship. I cared about it way more than losing you. So when you finally asked me out, I couldn't be more than happy to accept it. I hated it when you cheated on me though. So after we broke up, I tried to forget you. Of course, that didn't work, so I just gave up. When we met, I'll admit, I was kind of hoping for us to make up, but that didn't seem to work. And although I've tried to forget about you after we met again, I couldn't. Everything you did just made me love you even more than I did. I know that we had many problems for the past seven years, but to be able to meet you again, and to be able to stand here with you, it feels like a dream. But, this dream is different because I never want to wake up from it. I want to continue being with you and take care of our daughter together. I love you, Gary Oak."

The priest smiled at the two loving couple standing in front of him before moving on to the final part of the ceremony.

"Do you, Gary Oak take Leaf Green, as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"

Gary smiled genuinely at Leaf and nodded. "I do."

The priest smiled and turned to Leaf. "Do you, Leaf Green, take Gary Oak, as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"

She smiled brightly. "I do."

"The rings," he announced.

As on cue, May and Drew brought up the rings. Gary accepted the ring from his Best Man and slipped in through Leaf's left ring finger. "Leaf Green, I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you. With this ring, I thee wed."

Leaf giggled and followed his actions by taking the ring from May. "Gary Oak, I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you. With this ring, I thee wed."

The priest smiled. "Gary Oak, you may now kiss the bride."

And in that moment, everything turned black and white. The picture of the kiss was taken and the girls were now crying while the guys each had a smile on their faces. All of their friends were thinking the same thing. _'They're finally happy.'_

_And from now 'til my very last breath_

_This day I'll cherish_

_You look so beautiful in white_

_Tonight_

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Oak!"

_What we have is timeless_

_My love is endless_

_And with this ring, I_

_Say to the world_

_You're my every reason_

_You're all that I believe in_

_With all my heart, I_

_Mean every word_

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><p>That night at the reception dinner, everyone was dancing and enjoying themselves as the bride and groom made their way through the crowd, who congratulated them and wished them the best while some had a photo with them.<p>

They were stopped when the DJ announced that the bride and groom should have their dance, which they complied to.

_So as long as I live I love you_

_Will have and hold you_

_You look so beautiful in white_

_And from now 'til my very last breath_

_This day I'll cherish_

_You look so beautiful in white_

_Tonight_

Gary wrapped his arms protectively around Leaf's waist while she had her arms around his neck. "Did you like my surprise today?" he whispered in her ear.

She nodded against his shoulder. "I loved it. You're the best, do you know that?"

He discreetly shrugged. "Yeah, I've been told."

This caused her to purposely step on his toes with her high heels. She smirked against him. "Now let's not get too cocky."

The crowd laughed at the newly weds dancing in the dance floor. Slowly, each one of them joined the couple.

May and dragged Drew onto the dance floor first before being followed by Misty and Dawn with their boyfriends. Soon enough, they were joined with Mandy and Elliott.

_And if a daughter's_

_What our future holds_

_I hope she has your eyes_

_Finds love like you and I did, yeah_

_But when she falls in love we'll let her go_

_I'll walk her down the aisle_

_She'll look so beautiful in white_

_You look so beautiful in white_

When the dance was over, Leaf grinned at the two kids and nudged Gary. "Hey, that last verse really applies to our little Mandy doesn't it?" she teased as the group made their way to the two.

Her husband twitched slightly at the thought and shot a look at Drew. "What?" the green haired man asked.

"Your son better not try anything funny on Mandy," he warned.

The gang broke out into laughter as those words left Gary's mouth. And when Drew just smirked and walked away, fueling Gary's anger even more. "Come back here, you narcissistic man," he called as he went after him.

"It looks like his days aren't going to be too easy now since he has to watch Elliott closely," Misty cogitated.

"I'm actually excited to see what he's going to do," May thought aloud.

Leaf only giggled. "Knowing Gary, he's going to surprise all of us."

'_Just like how he surprised me by showing up into my life again.'_

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><p><strong>AND THAT'S A SCENE. AH, this story feels complete now. AHAHA, I don't know if it's just me, but yeah. <strong>

**I hope you all really loved his surprise chapter. Honestly, I didn't think I'd have another chapter up, but this song was just so inspirational! I can listen to it on replay the whole day c: **

**So yeah, review and make me happy!**


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